


The More The Merrier

by ButterFlyEffect



Category: CØDE:BREAKER | Code:Breaker
Genre: Anime, Breaker, F/M, Reader Insert, Romance, School, Yuuki - Freeform, code
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-02-28 23:39:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2751473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterFlyEffect/pseuds/ButterFlyEffect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a new transfer student arrives, you do not at first think much of it. But as you discover more about Yuuki Tenpouin and his deadly secrets, you become wrapped in a world of danger, death and deceit.</p><p>(Slight AU!Yuuki Tenpouin x Reader)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Transfer Student

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! I've noticed there are basically no reader inserts for Code:Breaker which is a real shame, because the show has so many great characters, Yuuki and Toki being my favourites, so I decided to write my own! It's a bit rushed I hope you guys like it anyway!

“This is the place in which the infiltration will commence,” a gruff voice spoke through the dim light.

“What, a school? I thought I was done with all that,” a second voice spoke, younger and less gravelly sounding.

“This is your assignment from the prime minister himself. Do you refuse, code 3?” The first voice had a threatening ring to it now. The younger of the two fidgeted unhappily in the shadows.

“…no.”

“Excellent. Now, the paperwork is done. You will be transferred tomorrow morning. Pack whatever you need now, Code:Breaker.”

“… Yes, sir.”

*****

With a yawn you stared tiredly out of the window, watching the raindrops lash against the window and trickle into one another. The classroom behind you was in chaos. The teacher was late and nobody seemingly had the cooperation or work ethnic to actually get out their notes and study.

To be fair, you weren’t either. Sure, the notes were spread out in front of you, but you were concentrating on almost everything other than the dull sheets of paper. You wondered absentmindedly why the teacher might be an astounding 15 minutes late to the first class of the day. Not that you were eager to start the history lesson, but the noise had begun to make your ears ache and you were bored. Some of your classmates had even pushed their desks together and were chatting away about mundane topics that you tried to block out but couldn’t.

A tap on the shoulder broke you away from your daydreaming and you turned to glance at your friend Megumi sitting behind you. Her short brown hair fell about her ears and she threw a cheeky smile your way, before tossing you a crumpled piece of paper at you. You snatched out of the air as Megumi explained that it was from Yui, a few seats down. You turned to look at your closest friend who waved and grinned when you looked up at her, her long and wavy dyed-blonde hair falling about her face and around her shoulders.

“Open it!” she mouthed. You nodded and grinned back. Un-crumpling the paper, you read the words scribbled there carefully and let out a loud and sudden splutter causing a few heads to turn in your direction.

“Sorry, I had something in my throat,” you chuckled anxiously, scratching the back of your head. There were a few smiles and sympathetic looks before you turned your attention back to the note.

The words “Do you like anybody?” were scribbled there messily in blue ink.

“No, do you?” you wrote and passed the note back.

After a moment you heard a disappointed cry from Yui and the sound of her leaping from her seat.

She came scrambling over you and slammed her hands on your desk, making you look up with a startled expression on your face.

“What!? But you’re really popular (y/n)!” she whined loudly.

“Yui, keep it down,” you hushed her with frantic hand gestures.

“I’m not kidding (y/n),” she carried on, but lowering her voice a little. “Half of the guys here are totally into you!”

“You’re exaggerating!” you protested with a laugh, waving your hands at her. Yui pouted.

“Anyway, you still haven’t answered my question,” you told her. “Who do you like?”

“Weeeell… That Yasuo is quite cute, isn’t he?” Yui replied with a bashful smile.

You laughed. “Go for it!”

Both of you turned and glanced at the dark-haired boy at the back of the class. He was in fact looking back in your direction, but as soon as you caught his eye, he glanced away with tinted cheeks.

“He likes you,” you commented to Yui.

“Don’t be dense, he was looking at you,” Yui returned with a sigh.

“Don’t be so modes-“

“Alright class, settle down,” a voice interrupted you conversation. In all the commotion you never noticed the teacher entering, followed by someone else. Your eyes locked on to the boy behind him immediately.

The class instantly seemed to quiet down. Desks were pushed back to their rightful places, bashful students caught in the act of skiving, including Yui, snuck back to their seats and folders were thumped out onto the desks.

“Alright class, we have a transfer student. Please introduce yourself,” he instructed the boy. The transfer student who had been looking absentmindedly down at the floor focused on the class and murmured: “Yuuki Tenpouin. Feel free to call me Yuuki.”

Yuuki, huh…?

He looked bored, almost apathetic to you. He had red-brown hair and unusual violet-tinted eyes.

The class erupted into whispering.

“He’s kind of cute…” someone whispered to Megumi behind you.

“A bit short though,” she whispered back. 

“I kind of wish it had been a girl,” a male voice muttered in front of you.

“Is he really fifteen?”

“I hope you will all make Yuuki-kun feel at home here,” the teacher broke in, before turning to the transfer student. “Come and see me in the teachers office during the break and I’ll give you some work to catch up on.”

The red-haired boy nodded, though you could almost see his deflation at those words.

‘Wow, he must really hate studying, huh…’ you thought to yourself.

“You can the empty seat next to (l/n),” he concluded. “(L/n), please raise your hand.”

Slowly you raised your hand above your head. Yuuki’s eyes flickered over to you and the air seemed to suddenly become thick. Your heart skipped a beat. He had an intense gaze.

Soon after however, Yuuki broke the eye contact, walked over and flopped down at the table next to yours and the teacher resumed last weeks lesson. You placed your chin back into your hands and turned your attention back to the rain.

*****

It seemed like hours and hours before break finally began. Yui’s head flopped onto her desk. You had moved your chair over to her desk and were sharing a morning snack.

“That was soooo boring…” she whined.

You hummed in agreement, munching contently on half a breakfast bar. Yui was up again in a flash.

"So (y/n), what did you think of the new boy?"

You almost choked on your breakfast bar. Yui clapped you heartily on the back.

“You okay?” she asked after you had finished. You nodded.

If you were honest with yourself, you hadn’t really had long enough to form an impression of the boy, but you knew Yui wouldn’t be happy until you answered her question.

“Well… He looked a bit out of it,” you responded with a shrug.

“You know that’s not what I mean (y/n)!”

“…”

“Well, I thought he was cute,” she announced.

You shrugged again. He was unusual, that was for sure. He did have a strange air about him. Like someone a lot older than himself, despite his childish appearance.

“Yeah…” you hummed.

“(Y/n) (L/n),” a voice called into the classroom. You looked up to see an upperclassman looking in through the sliding door from the hall.

“Yeah?” you answered, raising your hand slightly.

“Hinata-sensei would like to see you.”

*****

Taking a deep breath, you knocked on the door to the teachers’ office.

“Come in!” someone called and you pushed open the door. Even in the teachers office you turned a few heads when you entered the room. Though you were too modest to ever admit it, you were hugely popular in your school, not just because you were beautiful, but because of your amazing grades.

Your homeroom teacher, Hinata-sensei was sitting at his usual spot by the coffee machine.

“Ah, (y/n)-kun,” he called out to you, waving his arms in your direction. “It’s so nice of you to come.”

You gave him a small smile as you approached before standing a bowing. Yuuki was sitting on a chair pulled up next to Hinata’s and he sat untidily with his legs spread and his hands resting on the chair between them, almost like a child.

“I’m sure you two have already been introduced, but just in case, Yuuki-kun, this is (y/n) (l/n). (Y/n)-kun, this is Yuuki Tenpouin.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” you murmured and inclined your head in his direction. The boy returned the gesture.

“I’m going to be really busy today, so I was hoping you might to be able to show Yuuki-kun around the school at lunch,” Hinata told you, scratching the back of his head with grin.

“I’m not doing anything, so that works for me sensei,” you agreed. For a moment you glanced over at the red-haired boy and your eyes met for a split second before you looked away again.

“Aahh great! You’re a life-saver, (y/n)-kun,” your teacher chuckled, clapping his hands together in relief. “Well, off you both go. Your next class is starting in a minute.”

Yuuki hopped off the chair and straightened up. Quietly the pair of you exited the teachers’ office. You sighed in relief. You had almost been worried you were in trouble. Yuuki said nothing, but you could hear him humming something under his breath. A tune that sounded vaguely familiar.

“Nyanmaru?” you said out loud. Yuuki looked startled.

“What?”

“You were humming the Nyanmaru theme just then, weren’t you?”

You jumped when the boy suddenly let out an exclamation and jumped in front of you, blocking your way. He looked excited to you, a sharp contrast to before.

“Do you know it? Are you a fan?” He began to bombard you with questions. His eyes were sparkling with a kind of childish excitement.

“O-oh! Well, I used to watch it when I was younger… I still think it’s cute.”

“Right?” he agreed eagerly. You could hardly contain your surprise and suddenly felt something bubbling in your throat. After a moment you let out a small giggle, before clapping your hands over your mouth, hoping you hadn’t offended him.

But instead he tilted his head, with a slightly bemused expression.

“What? Did I say something strange?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious. You shook our head, the smallest hint of a smile on your face.

“No, it’s just that you didn’t seem the type to be into that kind of thing. Not that there’s anything wrong about it, “ you added hastily, noticing his suspicious expression. Groping around in your pocket for a moment you pulled out your (f/c) phone and showed him the small key ring that dangled from it. It was a small keychain with a miniature figure of Nyanmaru hanging on the end. Yuuki poked it affectionately.

“Hey, I have one of those,” he explained.

You opened your mouth to reply, but were interrupted by the bell, signalling the beginning of the next class.

“Oh crap! We’ll be late!” you gasped, grabbing the boy’s wrist and dragging him along with you.

“Man, I really hate school,” Yuuki grumbled, stumbling to keep up.


	2. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Throughout the day you get several chances to speak with Yuuki and it turns out that you should never judge a book by its cover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but I'll do my best! Thanks for reading on this far at all and please let me know what you think. ^^

The minutes seemed to tick on endlessly. The room was filled with bored faces and the occasional groan. You scratched your head at the maths problem in front of you, Megumi was resting her head on the desk behind you, having given up entirely and Yuuki was fast asleep on the table next to yours.

You considered poking him awake, but decided that since the teacher was entirely focused on the papers he was marking in front of him, it might just draw more attention to him.

You were in fact also beginning to get distracted from the math problems in front of you anyway and reverted back to doodling on the back of the paper. 

By the time the lesson eventually ended, several little Nyanmaru’s dotted the back of the page. You wondered absentmindedly whether you should show them to Yuuki as you hastily packed up your stuff and nudged said boy awake.

“Is school over yet…” he muttered moodily.

“Um, not yet…” you answered and Yuuki pushed himself slowly up.

“Hey (f/n)!” Yui broke in, bouncing up to you from her seat at the back.

“Yeah?”

“Are you free this lunch? I was going to eat in the gym and watch Yasuo play basketball.”

“Ahh… Sorry Yui. I’m showing Yuuki around the campus today…”

“Oh, that’s okay! See you later then!” With that she hopped off.

In the end Megumi joined you instead. You were grateful as she would easily fill any awkward silences and wouldn’t leave you to do all the talking. She enthusiastically told Yuuki all about the school as you marched around the school buildings.

“So Yuuki, why did you choose our school?” she asked at one point.

“It was… closest to where I… I live,” he said slowly. He sounded slightly unsure of the words coming from his mouth, but stuck to them none the less. Eventually however you began to notice that almost all of his answered sounded rather vague. Megumi on the other hand didn’t seem to notice and just carried on with her monologue about the school.

You decided to leave the schoolyard for another day, as it was still raining heavily and nobody was eager to get soaked and eventually ended up joining Yui in the gym.

Yuuki watched the ball bounce back and forth with a great interest. After a while he asked: “What game is this?”

“Huh!? You don’t know?” Yui exclaimed in a sudden burst.

“No. Tell me.”

With that your friend launched off into a long speech about the rules of basketball. Yuuki seemed to listen for a bit, but soon seemed to space out entirely. Yui on the other hand continued obliviously while you daydreamed on, staring off into space.

In the final two periods of the day you had literature and art. Both subjects you enjoyed. The time went more speedily this time and you drifted contentedly through both lessons. Yuuki slept through most of the first period, but when you were told to form groups in art to make a poster, he was forced to move his desk together with yours and Megumi’s and actually put in some effort.

That is, if sketching Nyanmaru’s all over the paper counted as effort.

“Yuuki, what are you drawing over there?” Yui asked unsuspectingly. You could almost feel Yuuki bristling beside you.

“It’s Nyanmaru. I’m helping,” he replied defensively.

Yui laughed nervously. “Ah… okay, that’s fine then.” After that the three of you girls decided to let Yuuki work on what he wanted, with the end result looking like Nyanmaru merchandise.

By the end of the school day, the rain still showed no sign of letting up and you mentally thanked yourself for remembering to bring an umbrella that morning. You began to head towards the shoe lockers, Yui and Megumi having left for their separate clubs. For a long time Yui had been trying to persuade you to join the calligraphy club with her, but to tell the truth you didn’t have much time to take part clubs and though you had long been considering the art club, you couldn’t really afford to take the time. As a student who lived by herself, a lot of your free time was taken up by working.

Your shoe locker was, like usual, overflowing with admiring love letters. Wincing, you opened it carefully, trying not to get any on the floor. Your effort however was in vain. As soon as you opened the little locker, letters practically exploded from it, fluttering onto the floor by your feat.

With a sigh, you crouched down and began to collect them up, putting them neatly into your bag, to sort through and read later. Many were often anonymous, but you took care to read them anyway, as you were always careful to take note of the feelings of others. Your introverted personality had kept your popularity from going to your head entirely; though this was most likely just another reason so many people liked you.

It was then that something knocked against your hand and you glanced up to find that Yasuo from your class had crouched down beside you and was helping you pile together the lettes.

“Oh! Thank you Yasuo-kun! But you didn’t have to…” you mumbled.

“It’s okay, (y/n)-chan…” he answered awkwardly. “A-actually there was something I… I wanted to give you as well.”

“Oh?” you asked politely, placing the remaining letters in your bag and slinging it over your shoulder. Yasuo stood up in front of you and held out something flat in his hand. It was a small envelope with a heart-shaped sticker on the front.

“R-read it, okay?” he stammered.

Flustered, you took the note off him and were about to thank him. But when you looked up, he was gone. With a shrug of your shoulders you stooped down, changed your shoes, put the note in your pocket and grabbed your umbrella. You were silently hoping the letter wasn’t was you were pretty sure it was.

Outside a strong wind had begun to blow. It caused your hair to whip against your face and forced you to squint your eyes. You were about to open up your umbrella and step out into the wind when you became aware of someone standing in the shadows behind you.

You whipped around only to find Yuuki glaring out into the rain with a dark expression on his face.

“Yuuki-kun? Do you have umbrella?” you asked quietly. The boy turned his eyes to you and shook his head glumly. Something told you he didn’t care for rain much. It was funny, you thought, how fast your opinion of a person could change. Only this morning you had judged him as a personality-lacking, emotionless character, but since then you had not only learned of his extreme fondness of a certain animated cat, but also his obvious distaste for rain and confusion over normal human activities, such as basketball. He really was an odd personality, and yet you already felt a kind of protective affection forming towards him.

“Where are you going?” you asked gently.

“Just down to the bus stop.”

“Would you like to share my umbrella?” you asked after a moment. Yuuki glanced at you for a moment.

“Yes please.”

 

*****

“It’s raining so heavily…” you mumbled. Sharing an umbrella was easier than you thought. You had expected it to be difficult for the pair of you to fit under, but fortunately Yuuki turned out to be a comfortable height, only a little taller than you, and had no qualms about sticking close to you to avoid the rain. At first you were a little flustered by his closeness, but you calmed down soon after, mainly because Yuuki didn’t even seem to notice your initial discomfort. You couldn’t really complain either, as his shoulder was warmly pressed against yours, shielding you from the ice-cold wind just a little.

Yuuki merely made a small noise of agreement at your statement. The bus stop was coming into view through the rain and the wind. By the time you had reached it, both of you were thoroughly chilled right down to the bone, your school uniforms providing little protection against the harsh winds.

“I’m crossing here,” you told Yuuki, having to raise your voice a little to be heard over the rain. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You too (l/n)-san.” You wondered if that was perhaps that was the first time he has addressed you by either of your names all day. You liked the way he pronounced it. You couldn’t help but think that the boy had a pleasant voice.

With a final wave, you stepped off the sidewalk onto the road. You were only half way across when something caught your eye. From a shadowy gap between two houses on the opposite side of the road, two twin chips of ice seemed to glint at you out of the dim light. Your heart leapt up into your throat.

Someone was watching you!

Your footsteps halted involuntarily and you stopped and stared. Only then did you become aware of a screeching sound coming steadily closer and you snapped out of your trance, becoming aware of your surroundings once more.

A car was sliding towards you across the road, which was slippery with fallen leaves and rainwater. The driver was frantically blowing the horn, but it was too late for him to stop and too late for you to get out of the way.

“(L/n)!” you heard Yuuki’s voice call out behind you. Then, suddenly, something smashed into you from behind.


	3. The Situation

Painfully your head cracked against the road as you tumbled forwards. Through a dizzying blur of headlights through the rain and frantic shaking from someone above you, you realised someone was braced above you. The car screeched to a stop somewhere along the road and a car door was ripped open from the inside.

Had it swerved you last minute? No… Something had collided with you. But it couldn’t have been the car. If it had been you would most likely not be conscious at this point. As things swam back into focus in front of your eyes you realised that Yuuki was hovering over you, close enough for strands of his red hair to be tickling your face. He looked worried and slightly flustered. Something in the back of your head registered that he smelled pleasant.

But you were broken out of this temporary trance when a shorthaired woman in her mid-twenties came rushing towards you and Yuuki clambered swiftly off you. The woman knelt down and helped you sit upright, with a hand on her back, apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. “You came out of nowhere! It’s a good thing that young man was with you, or… or I could have… I’m so sorry!” She seemed almost more shaken than you were.

“No, it was my fault… What happened exactly?” you mumbled. The woman looked concerned.

“You don’t remember? I almost hit you with my car. I’m so sorry! But this young man,” she pointed to Yuuki, “managed to push you out of the way just in time. Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”

The events began to swim back together like the pieces of a puzzle in your mind.

“N-no, I’ll be okay…” you replied anxiously. Dealing with a slight concussion was one thing. Dealing with hospital bills was another. More than that though, you felt confused. Yuuki had been over on the other side of the road hadn’t he? How could have possible gotten to you in time to have pushed you out of the way?

“At least come around and dry out for a bit, you two,” she replied, sounding flustered, though her panic seemed to be declining.

“Really, it’s okay,” you protested. “I only live a few houses down.”

The concerned look did not leave her face. “Are you sure? Listen,” she began, taking out a business card from her bag and scribbling something down on it. “Take this. It’s my number and email. If anything happens feel free to call.”

You nodded, a little dazed and the women stood up, helping you up as well. “Take care,” she added with a smile before turning back to her car and driving off. You turned your gaze to Yuuki. He had been quiet this whole time, but he seemed to have something on his mind, judging by the conflicted look in his eyes. Then you realised he was soaked from head to toe. So were you for that matter; you had landed in a puddle, but you felt guilty about dragging him in to such a thing. And on his first day as well. Not to mention the fact that he had just effectively saved your life.

“My house is really near. Please come over and let me get you something,” you told him, trying to sound insistent, but unable to stop your voice from wavering. You had given yourself quite a fright just now. His face reverted back to a bored expression and he yawned. “No thank you. I have some things I need to take care of now,” he replied.

“In this weather?” you protested. “Please, I need to thank you somehow.”

“No need, really.”

“Yuuki,” you muttered with a glare. “Come. With. Me.” You were going to be firm on this one. You were going to show your gratitude whether he liked it or not. The very least you could do was invite him over to dry out and have a warm drink.

When he still didn’t move, you firmly grabbed his hand, almost sub-consciously and dragged him after you. He didn’t try to resist, but looked vaguely uncomfortable. His hand was soft and slipped perfectly into yours. But it was also cold and clammy from the weather and you were not about to let him walk home like that.

*****

“This is it,” you murmured, turning on the light in your small bungalow and letting go of the boy’s hand. “You can leave your shoes there.”

The house was cold, but you decided that with a visitor you could afford to put on the heating for a few hours. “The kitchen is through here,” you told him, shrugging off your jacket and flicking on a few more lights before entering the kitchen. The kitchen was warmer as you spent most of your time in said room, cooking or just reading, mainly because it just was the warmest room. A high table sat on one side, surrounded by four bar stools, something that had been there when you had first moved in. It was covered in homework, books and bills, which you shoved up to one end to make room for the two of you.

“Tea, coffee or hot chocolate?” you asked.

Yuuki’s head snapped up from where he was sitting at the table, scrutinizing some manga you had left lying out. “Hot chocolate please.”

With a nod you went about making warm drinks, stopping to give Yuuki a clean dishcloth to rub his hair dry and to set out some chocolate biscuits on the table. Finishing up, you sat down, helping yourself to a biscuit and handing Yuuki a Nyanmaru cup full of hot chocolate. He picked up on in immediately.

“Nyanmaru,” he mumbled, holding the cup up to look at it more closely.

“I thought you might like it,” you hummed with a nostalgic smile. “A friend gave it to me for my 11th birthday.”

There was a few moments of silence in which both of you sipped at your drinks and nibbled on biscuits. Food, you thought, was a great way to get out of having to think up something to talk about. Yuuki didn’t really seem to be one for small talk anyway, you mused.

A few seconds later a loud mew interrupted the silence. You glanced down to see your cat, Mika rubbing around the legs of your chair.

“Ah! I forgot to feed you when I came in, didn’t I?” you gasped, hopping down from the old wooden stood and moving over to the counter.

“You didn’t say you had a cat,” Yuuki stated, intrigued by the animal. After he moment he too hopped off his chair and sat cross-legged on the floor. Your cat quickly hopped into his lap and began to purr contentedly.

“I used to get teased about it in primary school,” you admitted, putting down a bowl of food. “They used to think it was strange that I liked cats so much. The thing is, when you’re on your own it’s nice to have a companion.”

“Mmm. Yes it is,” Yuuki agreed, looking affectionately at the cat.

“You know, it’s unusual for her to be so trusting with strangers,” you commented, sitting down across from Yuuki and bringing your knees up to your chin. For the next few minutes the pair of you sat on the floor and listened to the purring of the cat. You enjoyed watching the boy play with her. Both parties seemed to be enjoying the interaction.

It was then however when the loud jangle of the Nyanmaru theme cut through the air, interrupting the tranquillity. Mika hissed and jumped off Yuuki’s lap, padding over to her bowl indignantly. Yuuki pulled a phone from his uniform pocket checked the caller ID and his eyes widened.

“Is there somewhere I can…” he began. You nodded, confused but not wanting to pry and led him through to the living room. He closed the door behind him and you heard a ‘bleep’ as he answered his phone. Not wanting to eavesdrop, you drifted back to the kitchen and picked up a manga, listening to the crunching noise of cat food being devoured under the table. It was a good ten minutes before Yuuki came trotting back to the kitchen.

“I have to go,” he told you, shrugging on the jacket of his uniform and tucking his phone back into a pocket. “Something urgent came up.”

“Is everything alright?” you asked, concerned.

“Yeah. I just need to go back to school for something.”

You followed him back to the front door where he slid his shoes on quickly and opened the door.

“Thanks for the food,” he mumbled speedily and stepped out the door with a “bye”. You watched him speed-walk away down the street, bewildered. When he turned a corner, out of your sights, you shrugged and closed the door, deciding he must have his reasons.

The rest of the evening went fairly smoothly. You ate a microwaveable lasagne, washed up, ordered the table a bit and started on some homework. While the cat lapped hungrily at the leftovers of the lasagne, you flipped open your maths folder. However, you couldn’t find the usual textbook. Anxiously you bent down to check your bag. Nothing. Had you left the textbook at school? It seemed like the only option. You must have left in your locker at school.

Panicked, you checked your watch. The school would be open for about another half hour, enough time to walk around, get in and then out again. On the other hand you had the option of leaving it for the night and explaining what had happened to the teacher. Surely with your situation, they would understand? And after all, you had never forgotten your homework before. Everybody makes mistakes. But on the other hand, you didn’t want to start slacking. It was a vicious circle to you, if you stopped putting the effort in, relying only on the sympathy of your teachers, you would never get any work done.

Decidedly you made your way back to the front door, threw on a jacket over your uniform and some shoes, you stepped out into the windy night and closed the door behind you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yass! I actually did it! I wasn't originally sure if I was going to update this fic, but I had some people asking and to be honest I'm really flattered!
> 
> I'm sorry this is such a short chapter... I have exams coming up soon. D:
> 
> Also, Yuuki is a really difficult character to write! I need to rewatch Code:Breaker again I think. :'D I hope I haven't made him too OOC. Also, I'm thinking of changing the name of this fanfiction again. Everything I seem to think up just sounds really cheesy. But I was thinking maybe "Code:Friendship"? Let me know if you guys have any ideas. :)
> 
> Also, thank you everybody for the support, especially CynthiaReadsStuff and aly! I really appreciate it.


	4. Classroom Brawl

Almost as soon as you exited the front garden, you began to shiver. How had Yuuki managed without a coat? The wind was strong enough to be doubling over trees and the rain was coming down in sheets. You could barely see through your (h/c) hair.

Cars rushed past and splattered you while rubbish tumbled across the streets in the wind. It seemed to take an age before you began to see the looming silhouette of the school ahead of you and made a final desperate rush to get out of the rain.

Dashing into the school and letting the door slam behind you, you breathed in a heavy sigh of relief from being out of the rain. Quickly you trotted to your locker and sure enough a battered old textbook lay inside. Relieved, you scooped it up and pushed it into your bag.

The school was eerily dark around this time of the day and the storm clouds weren’t helping. Shivering you made your way hastily towards the door, wanting to get out of the old creaking building, even if it meant going back outside.

However it was then that a loud crash made itself known to you and you whipped your head around, back down the corridor. It was followed by a string of curses and yelling. It echoed around the corridor and was then continued by a further crash. 

Before you knew it you were running. Running towards your classroom, where the noise was coming from. Throwing open the door, the first thing you saw was a head of fluffy read hair, ruffled badly by the wind. Desks were scattered and lying on their sides, a sharp contrast from the neat lines they had been in before.

It was then that you noticed blood was dripping from above Yuuki’s eye as he turning to look at you, his eyes widening in shock.

“You-“ he began, but was cut of by another desk coming flying towards him. He dodged at the last minute and the desk clattered into the board instead, leaving a dent. You winced and were about to run forwards when another figure caught your eye.

You were unable to see his face from under the dark hood of his hoodie, but the figures physique seemed familiar to you. You couldn’t place it, but were caught off guard by a sudden feeling of unease.

But even more odd, a variety of objects were floating around him in an almost protective manner. Desks wobbled in the air, along with rulers, chairs and a pair of scissors, which was pointed dangerously at Yuuki.

“What… What’s going on?” you cried out, just as the dark figure sent a variety of objects flying straight towards Yuuki.

“Cover your ears,” Yuuki ordered and opened his mouth, letting out a loud screech. Shocked, you did as he told you, clamping your hands over your ringing ears. The objects froze for a moment in the air and came clattering to a halt. The blast also sent the figure in the hood flying backwards against the wall, his hood falling back, revealing black hair and large brown eyes. You recognised his features instantly.

“Yas…uo?” you stammered, your hands falling limply by your sides. You looked from Yuuki to Yasuo. Both looked shocked and tense.

What was going on? Objects flying through the air? Sonic blasts?

“(Name)-chan…” Yasuo gasped finally, looking at you.

“Yasuo… What’s happening?” you asked after a moment, your voice trembling, unable to comprehend what was happening in front of you.

“I’m sorry,” he replied, sounding desperate. His eyes flickered nervously between you and Yuuki. “I’m not who you think I am.”

Another desk began to lift, gliding shakily upwards into the air.

“H-hey,” you whispered. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but please don’t!” The desk remained wobbling in the air, uncertainly. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Yuuki taking another deep break and opening his mouth. For some reason you knew exactly what he was planning to do.

“No stop!” you cried out, running to stand in front of Yasuo. But it was too late. Yuuki emitted a loud, almost barking sound and in a desperate attempt to save yourself you shot out an arm to protect your face at least.

There was more crashed and desks flew past you and smashed into the wall behind you. But despite your position, nothing collided with you. You remained braced for a few more seconds, but when nothing happened you reopened your eyes, in time to see a force field surrounding you and Yasuo fading. Strangely enough, one of your hand was pressed against the inside of it and your fingers tingled with a kind of electric warmth.

You gasped and your eyes shot open, just as the force field flickered into nothing. There was an almost complete silence as the final few desks clattered to the floor. Two pairs of shocked eyes were fixed on you.

“Wha… Wha…” you tried to form a sentence, but words failed you. But another voice cut over you.

“No. 3. We’re not meant to leave messes,” the cold voice spoke in a low tone, putting a strong emphasis on the word “messes”. A pair of twin chips of ice appeared at the classroom door and a tall boy with dark, neatly combed hair stepped into the room.

With a startled grunt you skittered backwards.

“You…!” You from earlier!” you snarled, suddenly recalling the pair of eyes you had seen before almost being run over. The newcomers only response was to narrow his eyes at you. You flinched, but stood up defiantly anyway. Unfortunately he was still about a whole head higher than you.

“No. 6,” Yuuki spoke up for the first time in a while. “Why’re you here?”

The newcomer’s eyes flickered over the red-haired boy and said shortly: “Apparently,” he waved a gloved hand vaguely in Yasuo. “They expected them to put up more of a fight then they originally let on.”

The distaste for “they” was written all over his face. Then he turned towards you and without a word began to step closer and closer. His shoes made clicking noises against the floor and his eyes remained fixed on you all the way. He stopped before you, slid the glove from his hand and reached out towards you. Then he began to speak: “An eye for an eye.”

Yuuki’s head snapped up. “No. 6! Wait!”

No. 6 didn’t stop. “A tooth for a tooth.” There was a horrible air of finality surrounding his words. His hand almost reached your forehead. You felt heat near your skin.

“And evil for evil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo! I'm really sorry that this is so short and rushed, partly because it's still in the middle of my exams, but I felt that I owed it to Rin Yumeine to upload something, for leaving me such a nice message. So this is dedicated to you, Rin! :3
> 
> Ogami finally makes his appearance!


	5. Yasuo's Letter

You closed your eyes before his hand reached your forehead. Your heart pounded. So this was it then. You had hoped to at least live a little longer than this…

‘Mum, dad… looks like I’ll be coming to join you sooner than expected,’ you though. There was a damp sizzling sound, followed by a scream and the scene of burning flesh filled the room. But no pain ever came.

You blinked open your eyes at the burning heat right in front of your face and stumbled back when you were met with bright blue flames. A figure stood between you and the black-haired new comer, alight in the flames.

You shrieked as the person turned to you realised what had happened. Yasuo had jumped in front of you at the last minute. In a panic you dashed forward in an attempt to somehow put out the flames, but only succeeded in burning your hands before being pushed back by the burning figure. 

“I love you, (f/n) (l/n),” Yasuo spoke, eyes filled with emotion and pain. “Read the letter, okay?”

Those were the words he spoke before the fire flared up and he went up literally in smoke, leaving behind a charred area on the floor of the silent classroom. No. 6 lowered his hand back to his side.

“You…!” you snarled, a kind of rage seeping into your veins. Your face contorted in fury and you tasted salt in your mouth, knowing that you were crying.

(Name), don’t!” Yuuki tried to warn you, but you were already running at the boy who had killed Yasuo, seeing read. Pulling out a fist, you attempted to throw a punch at his face, but he caught your hand with ease. There was a sting in your hand as he attempted to burn you to the ground, just like he had done to Yasuo, but you pulled your hand back before he was able to. You fell backwards and landed heavily. Despite this you almost immediately tried to get back up again, with no avail. You fell back hopelessly.

No. 6 stepped towards you again, glaring down at you in anger. You knew you were going to die. There was no way you could hope to land a scratch on someone with his power. It was useless, and yet you still stared up at him defiantly, your hair hanging in loose strands around your face.

Again, the dark-haired boy reached down towards you, but this time someone caught his wrist. You gaze flickered to Yuuki, who was standing behind him, holding No. 6’s hand with an conflicted look on his face.

“Yuuki,” No. 6 growled warningly, trying to pull his wrist away, but with no avail.

“That’s enough Ogami,” another voice cut in, this time female. Through your tear- and ash-stained face, you looked past the boy and realised another newcomer was standing in the doorway. This time it was a woman, hair brown hair up in a ponytail.

“Kanda.” Yuuki and ‘Ogami’s’ eyes turned to her simultaneously. Yuuki reluctantly let go of the other boy’s wrist and stepped back. Ogami regained his composure and spoke: “She saw everything. We have to eliminate her.”

“No, you mustn’t,” she ordered, before stepping over rubble from broken desks and walking over to you. With a glance down at you she began: “I think she’s one of you.”

“Wha-what…?” You couldn’t take it all in. Everything was happening so quickly. Only this morning you had been sitting in a dull classroom, being introduced to a new transfer student and since then you had witnessed objects flying through the air, sonic blasts, people throwing fire at each other and you had lost a classmate.

Kanda kneeled down in front of you and handed you a handkerchief, which you took numbly. She began to explain: “(f/n) (l/n), I realise this must be a shock for you, but the government suspects you of being a person with special abilities. I’m going to have to ask you a few questions.”

Ogami’s head snapped up. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?” he demanded. Kanda turned to him and placed a finger against her lips. Ogami reluctantly fell quiet.

“(Name), did you know you were a child with special abilities?” was the first question she asked. Your thoughts flickered back to the force field. Surely that hadn’t been you? How could you have lived for 15 years without knowing about it?

“N-no…” you stammered. Kanda nodded.

“Alright. How about your parents?” You looked away at that question.

“I don’t have any parents,” you replied. “I was an orphan.”

“No way…” Yuuki muttered in the background.

“Okay then,” Kanda nodded sympathetically. “This is the last question. Have you ever heard of a person called Kamui (l/n)?”

Your mind suddenly felt as though it was being snapped awake from a trance. “How do you know that name?” you demanded, leaning closer to Kanda suddenly, who seemed to jump at your sudden reaction.

“He used to work for the government. Are you aware that he is your father?”

You nodded. You only owned one keepsake of your parents. An old locket with the picture of a beautiful woman who you guessed was your mother inside and the name Kamui (l/n) engraved in it.

“Alright, thank you (name),” Kanda thanked you and stood up, pulling a phone from her pocket.

“What’s this about?” you asked weakly.

“I can’t tell you this minute, but you’ll know soon (name), I promise,” she woman answered, before dialling a number and speaking into her phone: “Yes. Target secured…. No, she didn’t… Do you want me to bring her in?... Alright, I’ll have Yuuki keep an eye on her… Yes sir… Her ability? It seems to be telekinetic construction… Yes… Yes… Thank you, sir… Goodbye.”

She hung up and turned on her heals. “Listen (name), for now just go home. We’ll be in contact.”

******

Kanda drove you home just 15 minutes later after helping you wipe most of the ash off of your face and bandaging your blistering burned hands. You had gone into a kind of numb shock and when you got home you staggered into your house, showered and fell straight into bed. You hadn’t realised until your head hit the pillow how exhausted you were.

You slept fitfully that night and were haunted by images of Yasuo’s final moments before meeting his end by the hand of Ogami Rei. Your lip curled subconsciously at just the thought of the fiery boy.

In the morning, you felt ill and your head pounded. Everything felt surreal. In the end you decided not to go to school and just took a shower before going back to bed and sleeping until noon.

It was around 4 that Yuuki turned up to check on you. Of course you now knew that his interest in you was most likely related to business rather than out of the goodness of his heart. You invited him in anyway and made coffee and waffles for both of you. Few words other than offers and “thank yous” were exchanged and so for the most part you both sat at the table sipping your warm drinks.

Still later, Yui turned up at your door with warm soup and a ‘get well soon’ card. You invited her in as well; honestly grateful to see someone who wasn’t part of this insanity you had somehow gotten yourself mixed up in. She let out a small squeak of glee when she realised Yuuki was also present and chattered on about what had happened in the class throughout the day, occasionally prompting Yuuki to back her up.

She talked about how Aoi had apparently been asked out behind the gym, and how the classroom had suddenly had an import of new desks, after which you and Yuuki shared a secretive glance. But it was the final thing she said that really got to you.

Towards the end of the hour she said: “Oh… How did I forget to mention this?” Her face fell and she elaborated: “Apparently Yasuo has suddenly transferred schools.”

The mug slipped out of your hand and fell to floor with a crash. Shards of the mug slid across the kitchen floor in a mess of coffee. Yui looked up, concerned.

“(Name)? Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah… Sorry I’m just feeling a bit dizzy again,” you lied.

Yui looked at you sceptically and leaned down to help you pick up the shards. Then she spoke up again, unsurely: “(Name)? There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”

Your head swam painfully. What could you tell her? ‘Oh, sorry but your crush with superpowers got burned to death because of me and the government paid off his parents to pretend he transferred schools instead,’? That would not go down well.

“I… I…”

“She burned her hands on the oven yesterday,” Yuuki broke in. “She gave herself a fright.”

Yui’s eyes widened and she grabbed one of your bandaged hands in her own. You winced. “(Name)! Why didn’t you tell me sooner that that’s what happened?” she whined. “Did you run them under cold water? Are you changing the bandages regularly? Are you sure you don’t want to go to hospital?”

“Really, I’m fine, you protested,” gently pulling your hand back and standing up to get a cloth from the work surface.

After that, Yui didn’t stop fussing over you for the whole 2 hours before she left. No matter how much you protested, she continued to look after you. When Yuuki then left at half past seven, you finally sat down and were left alone with your thoughts for a while. Absentmindedly, you sipped the soup that Yui had brought for you and read over the ‘get well’ card.

The card! You sat upright with a jolt. You had just remembered something. Dashing over to your school bag you tipped out various unread letters until you found a plain envelope with a heart-shaped sticker sealing it shut.

‘Yasuo,’ you thought and an overwhelming wave of sadness washed over you. Steeling yourself, you peeled away the sticker and opened the envelope. Inside there was a sheet of pale orange paper, which said the following:

‘Dear (Name),  
I have thought this over many times and how I could possibly tell you this. We are worlds apart, but I love you.  
I have for a while now. Ever since that day I was late for school on our first week and you managed to keep us out of trouble. Do you remember?  
I have received nothing but kindness from you. At first I thought that you would be the same as everybody else, but instead I found that you are kind to everyone. I have never seen you loose your temper at anyone no matter the situation. I don’t know how you have the patience.  
The thing is I have watched you for a long time. Whenever I am around you, my heart pounds and it feels like I can’t tear my eyes away. So I ask honestly, will you go out with me?  
With Love,  
Yasuo Himura

PS: I’ll be waiting for your answer.’

By the time you had finished reading, you were crying again. An overwhelming feeling of guilt settled in your stomach and tears began to drop into the paper, making the ink run. It was your fault he was gone and he wasn’t going to come back either. There was nothing you could do to fix this.

You suddenly became desperate to talk to someone. But who? You couldn’t tell Yui the truth. Megumi would just worry. You weren’t really close enough the Yuuki, nor did you expect him to understand how you felt. It was at times like this that you really wished your parents were still around.

Then somebody else came to mind. It was a long shot, but… There wasn’t really anyone else you could go to. She seemed the type who would be a good listener, and to be honest that was all you really needed. You heaved yourself tiredly off your bed and rifled around in your jacket pocket, which was hanging on the back of your bedroom door until you found the scrap of paper.

Taking a deep breath, you began to dial the number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh... I have my art exam tomorrow and I'm so worried... But here's the next chapter! I haven't had much time to check for mistakes, so if you come across any, please let me know!
> 
> Also, I feel I should add more Yuuki x Reader scenes soon, because this is supposed to be a fic for him...
> 
> I'm really flattered by all of the encouragement to be honest! I didn't think it would get this many hits either. It's helping motivate me to write actually. I'm really looking forward to getting all of these exams out of the way, so I can start writing more again.
> 
> Also, this is just a warning, but I think that the next time I manage to update I will change the name of this fanfiction to Code:Friendship, so don't be alarmed if you can't find it under the same name!


	6. Helping Hand

“Hallo, this is Mrs Hisakawa speaking,” a voice replied on the other end. You let out a small breath you didn’t realise you had been holding in.

“H-hallo,” you murmured anxiously into the phone. “This is (l/n). Um… I ran in front of your car yesterday.”

“Sweetie! I thought I recognised the voice,” the woman replied on the other end of the line. She seemed to be smiling, judging by her voice. “Is something wrong?” she added, suddenly sounding serious again.

“Um…” Suddenly you wondered whether calling someone who was almost a complete stranger to you was really a good idea. But surely she would understand?

The phone crackled into your ear, followed by the barking of a dog. “Down boy, down!” a male voice ordered in the background and the barking ceased temporarily.

“Sorry, the telephone excites him. The dog I that is, not my husband,” she joked. You chuckled lightly into the phone, but couldn’t stop sniffing a little and hiccupping.

“Sweetie, are you crying?” Mrs Hisakawa asked. She sounded concerned. Of course she did. It was half past 7 in the evening and she was being called by a crying teenage girl that she hardly knew.

“I’m sorry,” you gasped, trying to stop yourself from sobbing. “But I have a problem and my parents aren’t around, and I didn’t know who else to contact. I’m really sorry to bother you!”

“Oh no, don’t be sorry. Listen why don’t you come around to that little coffee shop down the road and we’ll talk it over there?”

“I don’t want to bother you,” you sniffed.

“Nonsense! I’ll be down in ten minutes!” Mrs Hisakawa said cheerily. “See you in a minute.” There was a click as the lady on the other end placed down the receiver. You pressed the hang up button on your phone and allowed your arm to fall to your side. You were starting to wish you hadn’t called at all. You felt horribly guilty about making someone come outside at such a late hour.

Well it was too late now. The least you could do was not make her wait, and so you flung on your coat over a cream coloured hoodie and slid on some shoes. Remembering to lock the door behind you, you trotted down the path to your front gate and began to make your way through the windy evening.

Yuuki slid into your thoughts as you walked down the concrete sidewalk. He was a complete enigma to you. Up until now you had thought yourself fairly good at reading another’s face, but Yuuki was impossible to read. Even when he spoke, it was often monotone. The only time he seemed to honestly show how he was feeling was when he was excited. 

Had it really only been yesterday morning you had been staring out of the window, a mundane girl in a mundane world, with nothing more to worry about then when the next pop quiz was going to be?

But then if you really had had this power all along, you never really were a normal human. Had it really been your power though? Kanda and Yuuki had seemed sure, but try as you might you hadn’t managed to use it again. What was it that Kanda had called it? “Telekinetic construct.” You made a mental note to look it up when you next logged onto your old computer.

The warm lights from the coffee shop called to you as you hurried the last few steps towards the entrance. Once safely inside, you removed your hood and pulled off your jacket, leaving it on the hooks at the entrance.

The coffee shop was fairly busy for this time in the evening with a group of some of your upperclassmen clustered around a table at the far side, playing a car game and sipping warm drinks, an elderly couple in the corner, reading the newspaper and chatting in sandpapery voices, three younger men on the barstools by the window and a single boy with white hair sitting in the area furthest from the entrance. He seemingly had his nose buried in a book, but amber eyes occasionally glanced over the top of his book in your direction. In the end you spotted Mrs Hisakawa sitting at a two-person table, studying a menu.

Suddenly you felt anxious about approaching. This must have been a stupid idea after all… What right did you have, calling strangers late in the evening and asking them to listen to your problems?

But at that moment she looked up and waved at you with a smile and you resigned yourself and trotted over, sliding into the wooden chair.

“Sorry for making you come out this late,” was the first thing you said, anxiously.

“Don’t worry about it at all,” she replied. “Kagome here needed a walk anyway.” She indicated at the dog sleeping under the table. “Now,” she began, waving at the waiter with a friendly smile. “What’s up?”

Now that was an awkward question. Where would you start? What could you say?

“Take your time to sort out your thoughts,” Mrs Hisakawa said kindly, ordering you both a latte. You attempted to pay her back, but she refused firmly. By the time the waitress served your coffees and you had thanked her, you decided you were ready to talk.

“I lost a friend yesterday,” you stated, your voice wobbling ever so slightly.

“I see. Did you have an argument?”

“Not exactly…” How could you put it without giving to much away? “We… He… passed away last night. There was an accident,” you added, looking down at your coffee. Mrs Hisakawa’s hand flew to her mouth.

“Oh my go- Not the boy from yesterday?”

You shook your head. “No… He was a friend… kind of… He… H-he confessed to me, but… I never replied and then yesterday evening…” You did your best to choke back more tears.

“That’s awful,” she replied. “My condolences.” She also turned her attention to her coffee. There wasn’t much you could really say in such a situation. “But sweetie, you know it isn’t your fault don’t you?”

It took every part of concentration you had in you to not blurt out that it was. Instead you nodded glumly. After that you both sat in silence for a while, wrapped up in your own thoughts while sipping your coffee.

Eventually the coffee shop neared its closing time and people began to file out. You thanked Mrs Hisakawa several times before she left during which she continually assured you that it was no problem and the dog leapt up at you and licked your hands.

Just as you were also getting ready to leave, the waitress from earlier walked up to you.

“I’m just leaving,” you told her quietly, with an apologetic smile.

“Oh don’t worry, it’s not that. I have a message from you from one of the other customers.”

“A message?” you repeated, surprised.

“Yes. From the young man over there,” she waved her hand vaguely towards the back of the café, but the seats were empty. She frowned. “I guess he must have left. Here it is.”

She handed you a folded note along with a red rose, both of which you took, somewhat bewildered. You thanked her and left the café, leaving a tip on the table. 

It was only when you arrived home and were lying safely on your bed in your pyjamas after finding a vase for the rose and hanging up your jacket that you opened the note. It was neatly folded in half twice and inside was written in perfect calligraphy: 

‘(Name),  
meet us tomorrow at noon outside the bakery.  
H.K.’

Confused, you re-read it twice. Usually you would have passed it off as a prank, but after everything that had happened you weren’t so sure. You made a decision to call in sick at school again. Nobody would question it. After all you had your situation; no parents. They wouldn’t scold you over it.

You folded the note up again and switched off your night-light. You had made your decision. Come what may, you would go and find this ‘H.K.’ person tomorrow and ask them what the hell was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap! Two chapters in one day! And I'm supposed to be revising... :'D Of course this is quite a short chapter. I hope you guys are enjoying it! ^^


	7. Explanations From H.K.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to AT_HS_BS! I hope it helps you feel a little better! :)

You stood nervously across the road from the bakery, clasping the strap of your bag tightly. It was warmer today and even a little sunny. You felt warmth on your back. However, despite all this there was a lump of dread in your stomach and you felt as though you were about to fall down the rabbit hole as you took a step forward and crossed the road.

When you reached the small bakery, you looked around nervously. There were tables and chairs sitting outside of the bakery and there were various customers sitting outside while drinking a coffee or eating a slice cake. But you didn’t recognise anyone; not Yuuki, not Kanda or even the dreaded Ogami.

You stood around uncertainly, shifting your weight from foot to foot. Surely this hadn’t just been a prank? You bit your lip.

It was then that one of the customers closed the paper he was reading with a rustle and stood up. He began walking in your direction and you stiffened up when he opened his mouth and spoke: (F/n) (l/n), I presume?”

You nodded, looking up at him anxiously. He had ruffled white hair and unusual amber eyes and you placed him at about 17. He was wearing what seemed to be a school uniform. And for some reason he seemed… Oddly familiar.

“I’m glad you’re here. I am Masaomi Heiki. You can just call me Heike.”

“Hey-key? Hey… H.K.!” Your eyes widened in realisation. “You’re H.K.”

“My, you’re a sharp one,” Heike replied, clapping. “Now then, this way if you please.”

He led you ever to a table with three chairs. A woman in glasses sat on the other side and looked up as you approached.

“Mrs Kanda?” you asked, wide-eyed. You hadn’t recognised her in the glasses.

“That’s the one,” she said; pushing her glasses up with a wink, before placing them back on her nose. “Make yourself comfortable.” She indicated the empty seat.

You thanked her and took a seat. After ordering yourself a coffee, you began: “What is this about?”

“All in good time (Name),” Kanda told you. “We called you out here to clear some things up. So basically, just go ahead and ask away and we’ll do the best to answer your questions. Then we’ll fill you in on the rest.”

You nodded, relieved you weren’t going to have to force it out of them. “Okay then… Who are you people?”

Kanda and Heike exchanged a glance.

“I think maybe Heike should answer that one,” Kanda said after a moment. The white haired boy nodded. You turned to him.

“My dear, do you remember what Kanda told you about your father working for the government?” You nodded.

“Well then,” he continued, sipping his tea. “I suppose he never told this to you?” You shook your head. “That’s because he belonged to a group of special agents with unusual abilities known as Code:Breakers. Of course, that’s just the name they were given. In reality you could call these people dogs of the state, using Ogami’s words, that is.”

You bristled when you heard that name and Kanda shot Heike a warning glance. He didn’t seem to notice and was watching you closely instead.

“And Yuuki… He’s a Code:Breaker too?” you asked. Heike nodded in confirmation.

“What…” A lump rose in your throat. “What about Yasuo?”

Kanda exchanged another glance with Heike before replying: “No.”

Your eyes dropped. “You see (name),” Kanda began to explain, not unsympathetically. “Not all people with special abilities side with the government, mainly due to reasons of their own. Yasuo wasn’t one of us, and that’s why it was decided that he should be eliminated.”

“So you kill people just because they have special abilities?” Your voice wobbled. “Are you going to kill me? We can’t help being born this way.”

“No, of course not. To both of those questions. The thing is, we suspected Yasuo of being connected to a group of rebels who are using their powers to terrorise other citizens. Their motive is unclear, but…” She paused, undecided. Then she took a deep breath and finished: “But we suspect your father of having a connection to them before he died.”

“And that, my dear, is why we want your help in tracking them down,” Heike added, finishing the last of his tea. 

“Me?” you repeated disbelievingly. “I don’t know about any of this. I can’t help you.”

“You have your abilities, don’t you?” Heike asked. You shook your head and replied: “No. I haven’t been able to use them since… that time.”

“(F/n), do you know what your fathers special ability was?” Heike questioned. This time you shook your head.

“It was mind-control.”

When you still didn’t catch on he elaborated: “When you were younger, I am assuming he placed a block on your memories.”

“What? Why?” you exclaimed. Why would your father try to hide your abilities from you? It was all a lot to process, but it was amazing how fast one adapted to one’s situation. These last two days, so much as happened that now an explanation was welcome, no matter how confusing or upsetting.

“That is something we don’t know I’m afraid,” Kanda broke in. “But we’re hoping it might have something to do with this organisation. Maybe you knew something.”

You shook your head and were silent for a long moment, contemplating your reply. What would they do when you told them you didn’t have a clue?

“But… if he placed a block on my memories,” you said finally, hesitating. “How am I supposed to know what it was that he blocked and why?”

“We don’t expect you to yet,” Kanda reassured you. “We hoped that with the right stimulation, you might remember.” You said nothing. Whatever it was that you couldn’t remember, it had happened years ago and had stayed hidden all that time. Maybe you weren’t meant to remember.

“Would you like some time to think all of this over?” Kanda asked kindly. You nodded once more, excused yourself politely and walked away from the table. 

They told you again that they would stay in touch before you left, but you honestly just wanted things to go back to how they were only three days ago. How had your life been turned upside down within the span of two and a half days?

Deciding to take a shorter route, you crossed through the small park on your way back home. A chilly wind had begun to blow again and you shivered. There a faint scent of fresh greenery on the air and you realised that soon it would be spring. It felt like the most pleasant thought you had had in the last three days.

It was with that positive though however that something small and brown leapt in front of your feet, causing to trip forwards, almost falling over flat. Luckily you were able to regain your balance in time to hear someone say “Sorry.”

It was a familiar voice, but you couldn’t find the owner. You looked left and right but couldn’t see anything other than trees and houses scattered in all directions.

“Don’t here,” the voice added and startled, you glanced down at your feet where a small brownish cat was sitting and looking up at you, looking mildly bored.

“Oh hello there,” you said, kneeling down to pet it, but it stepped back, opened it’s mouth and spoke. That cat _spoke_.

It said: “Hey, stop. It’s me, Yuuki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really glad I'v gotten this chapter written... Sometimes I feel I'm not to good at dialogue, but I guess that just takes practice. I'm honestly so flatter by all the support! To be honest I wasn't sure if this fic was going to get any readers, but I've been very pleasantly surprised!
> 
> Also, I've finished my exams for now, so I have a little more time to write before the upcoming interviews. :'D
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	8. Attack!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: This chapter has a little violence!

“Ugh. All this is making my head hurt,” you grumbled. You were carrying Yuuki’s lost form in your arms, where he was sitting contentedly with his whiskers twitching every now and then.

“And here I was thinking you were getting used to it,” he replied.

“I’ll never get used to this,” you complained as you walked up the final few stars to your front door. You set Yuuki down and unlocked the door. He came padding in after you.

“Thanks for letting me stay over,” he called up to you.

“I couldn’t exactly leave you out there…” you answered, hanging up your coat. “Litter tray is in the bathroom by the way.”

You could have sworn you saw his eye twitch.

“I’m having cup noodles for dinner. What do you want?” you asked him, bending down to look at him closely. He had explained to you on the way back how every Code:Breaker had a different lost form. Hearing Yuuki’s voice coming from this little bundle of fluff was still hard to take in though.

“Fish.”

“Um. I think I have some tuna in the fridge.”

“That will do,” Yuuki answered and started trotting towards the table. When Mika also came walking into the kitchen, looking for her own meal, her tail bushed up and she looked tensely at Yuuki’s lost form. Then she looked up at you with a betrayed expression.

“Sorry, sorry!” you apologised out loud, shaking out some cat food into her bowl. With a glare at Yuuki she began to nibble at her food.

“I think she likes you better in your normal form,” you told Yuuki while cutting up the tuna. He shrugged. It was odd seeing a cat making a human reaction to what you were saying, but it was cute as well. You had a feeling you could get used to this.

Later that evening Yuuki hopped into your room, while you got ready for bed.

“Are you going to school tomorrow?” he asked. You could tell that he was getting drowsy. With a short sigh, you walked over and picked him up, placing him on the end of your bed.

“I probably should,” you replied. You turned off the light and tucked yourself in under the covers. “I’ve missed two days already. Are you? I mean, are you going to turn back before school?”

“I can’t. I don’t have my uniform with me,” Yuuki replied, while turning in a tight circle and settling down on the end of your bed. A thought suddenly occurred to you at those words.

“Um. Yuuki? What happens when you turn back?”

“I’ll still be wearing whatever I was when I went lost, if that’s what you’re worrying about,” he answered with a yawn.

“Ahah… That’s good anyway.” After a moment you added: “Goodnight Yuuki.”

“Goodnight (f/n).”

******

You were woken by the obnoxious ringing sound of your alarm. Panicked you rolled over to check the time and ended up bumping your nose against something warm. Sitting up with a jolt, you realised Yuuki must have returned to his human form and was now sprawled out along the top of your covers with his face right in front of your own.

Your sudden movement ended up waking Yuuki up as well and he sat up with a yawn. His hair was ruffled and he still didn’t seem properly awake. With your face feeling warm, you reached over and clicked off the alarm.

“Oh. I’m back,” Yuuki said after a moment with realisation. He looked at you for several seconds without saying a word. Awkward.

The silence was eventually broken by a loud thump and a crash and Mika came skittering into your room at top speed and shot under the bed. Yuuki leapt up and off the bed. You pulled the covers back and followed him to the door. He froze just as you reached him and pushed you back suddenly, just in time for you to escape a hot beam of blazing orange fire.

You tumbled backwards and landed heavily on your backside, looking up in shock and Yuuki made a loud barking sound followed by a heavy crunching sound, a furious yell and a series of crashes.

It was then that somebody else came dashing into the room; a huge man with a bristled chin and brown hair. He was terrifying and as those bloodshot eyes turned and glared at you, you were certain you would even have been happier to see Ogami at that moment.

The floor of your bedroom cracked and what seemed to be a large tentacle or tree-root came sneaking out of the crack and curled itself around your foot. Meanwhile you could hear Yuuki struggling loudly with the other party out in the hall.

You tried to scuttle backwards, but the tentacle began to drag you closer and closer to the terrifying giant. Your heart began to pound in your ears. Time seemed to slow down and the whole scene was somehow surreal. You were kicking and screaming, but the noises tearing from your mouth seemed to be detached somehow, as though they were coming from someone far away.

As you were pulled closer and closer you heard the intruder laugh and say: “Well, well. Aren’t you a pretty little thing? We could have some fun with you.”

You wanted to puke. With one final desperate flail, you shot out your free foot and kicked him full in the face. There was a sickening crunch as the heel of your foot made contact with his bony nose, followed by a livid scream. 

Your foot was released and you plummeted to the ground. You quite literally hit the ground running, sprinting for the door. It was slammed shut before you could reach it, and more roots sealed themselves over it.

“You’re going to pay for that, girlie,” he snarled, blood dripping from between the fingers he was holding over his nose.

How on earth had this morning deteriorated so quickly?

You dodged as he threw a gigantic bloody fist towards you. You managed to leap sideways, just as the giant’s fist collided with the door. The door splintered and his fist crashed right through the door and out of the other side.

“Stop! Stop!” you cried out desperately, clambering back onto your feet.

“Fat chance, brat!” was the only reply you received and he came thundering towards you again. You tried to throw yourself out of the way again, but in shock you realised that your body had become frozen.

A male voice spoke in the back of your head. A cool familiar voice: “(Name). Use your ability. Fight!”

Your eyes widened and at the last moment you shot out an arm in front of you and though. Hard. And suddenly several little bullet-like objects shot past you, whizzing past your ear and over your head. They embedded themselves sickeningly into the huge man, piercing his skin before dissolving back into thin air.

He halted mid-rampage, wobbled and lost his balance, falling to his knees. Blood trickled from multiple wounds.

“Bullshit!” he howled furiously. “Nobody said you do that!”

“Good girl,” the voice spoke into your head again. “Now finish him off.”

As if in a trance you began to walk forwards. Your lips curled into a sadistic grin as a transparent blade formed in your hand out of thin air. Your attacker tried to crawl backwards, but you didn’t stop.

Then suddenly with a furious howl, you dashed suddenly forwards, the blade sticking outwards in your hand, and buried it in the mans throat. He tried to scream, and writhed on the floor, but only a weak choking sound escaped his throat. A wicked grin spread across your face and you pulled the blade back with a yank and blood splattered.

The man convulsed and made desperate gasping noises. You watched him struggle in satisfaction, allowing the blade to vanish from your hand, flickering into nothingness, just as the force field had.

Your attacker finally stopped writhing and the light of life died from his eyes. Watching him fading into a lifeless body snapped you out of your trance. With a gasp you fell to your knees. Your pyjamas, face and hands were covered in blood.

You had killed a man.

As the realisation swept over you, you began to sob, just as the door came blasting inwards, splintering midair and crashing into the wall, revealing Yuuki. The wound above his eye had reopened and he was bruised, but otherwise uninjured.

“(Name)? (Name!)” You heard his voice calling your name, before collapsing to the floor in a faint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've managed to upload the next chapter! I'm a little anxious because last time I wrote a fanfic, I didn't manage to get past chapter 8. Hopefully I will this time though! I have got the next chapter outlined in my head, so that shouldn't be a problem, but now that my exams are over I feel really tired... I literally slept right through until lunch yesterday! :'D But with all the encouragement I've been thinking I'll get a little further this time.
> 
> Also, I'm having a little trouble with the romance... It always feels kind of rushed and forced, but I'll try harder from now on!
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> And a huge thanks to AT_HS_BS, aly, CynthiaReadsStuff and Rin Yumeina for all the encouragement!


	9. Aftermath

You dreamt that night. You were sitting under the shade of an old oak tree, looking out at the surf washing up along the sandy shore. A cool sea breeze gently played at your hair, and you tasted salt on your tongue. You were pleasantly relaxed and warm, feeling the soft spring grass between your fingers.

Someone came up behind you and you looked around to see a familiar man in his late thirties. He had ruffled (h/c) hair and piercing (e/c) eyes, which looked down at you with affection.

“Dad?” you asked. The word had grown unfamiliar on your tongue. He nodded.

“(Name), you’ve grown so much.”

“Dad!” You pushed yourself off the ground and propelled yourself forwards into his arms. He hugged you with a chuckle.

“My little girl…” he uttered. “You did well today.”

You glanced up at him confused. Then you were met with a piercing bolt of pain shooting though your head. Images flashed before your mind. You fell to your knees in front of your father, clutching you head as images of blood and violence flooded your mind.

You had killed a man. Taken the life of another human being. As the pain receded, you looked up at your father again, horrified. He looked sad, but didn’t try to help you up.

“You…!” you gasped, in realisation. “It was you! You told me to do all those horrible things to that man…!”

Tears sprang to your eyes. Your father knelt down in front of you and attempted to wipe them away, but you pushed his hand away instead.

“(Name)-” he began with a sigh.

“Just don’t,” you interrupted fiercely, burying you face in your hand. “Because of you, I’ve killed someone!”

“It was either you or him,” Kamui told you persuasively.

“Leave he alone!” you howled suddenly, lashing out.

A firm hand took hold of your wrist. “(Name)! (Name)!”

With a gasp you shot up in bed. Your forehead collided painfully with something and Yuuki sat back, looking at you reproachfully, while rubbing his forehead. You flopped forwards, holding your own head.

After a moment you looked up and your surroundings blurred slowly into focus. It was a small room, complete with a bed, a small kitchen, a table, a television and a door, which you presumed was the entrance to the bathroom. The room was plain, save a Nyanmaru poster that hung above the bed.

You felt a heavy warmth by your feet and found that Mika was sleeping by your legs, curled up with her nose tucked under her tail.

“Ugh… Where am I?” you asked blearily.

Yuuki blinked and answered: “My place.”

As he said this memories crashed into your mind. The intruders, the fire and the death of your attacker. You were still wearing the bloodstained pyjamas, though someone had wiped the blood from your face and changed the old bandages that covered your burned hands. You winced suddenly and your head fell back into your hands.

You felt as though you could still feel your attacker convulsing through the ghostly knife. Your hands shook.

You felt a hand being placed gently on your head and looked up to find Yuuki staring back at you, looking concerned even. Despite the circumstances your heart skipped a beat. He looked conflicted before stating: “It’s always difficult the first time.”

You looked away, unable to look him in the eye any longer. He knew you had killed a man. But if that was so why was he being so casual with you? Had the gruesome scene you had created had no effect on him at all?

There was a click and someone stepped in through the front door. You looked up to see Kanda, who looked back at you for a second before her expression turned to one of relief.

“Thank goodness! We thought we had lost you there,” she sighed. You weren’t surprised. They must have run into the room and found you collapsed in a pool of blood.

Kanda held up a bag and said: “I brought a change of your clothes for you. We rescued what we could from the house, but it’s pretty much burned to the ground now.” When your head dropped she added: “I’m sorry.”

“Is it okay if I use the bathroom to change?” you asked dully. Oddly, amidst all the despair and misery they were glad they had gotten your cat out, along with some clothes to change into. Yuuki and Kanda exchanged another glance and Yuuki nodded.

“Feel free to use the shower,” he added. You nodded back, gratefully, pushed yourself off the bed and limped stiffly to the bathroom. You were inside for a while. You showered, changed and peeled several colourful Nyanmaru stickers off your face and all the while listened to the conversations in the other room.

“…this will be hard on her,” Kanda said, sounding slightly sad herself.

“Yeah…”

“I rang her school. Officially she died in the fire… She can’t go back now…”

“Does she have anywhere to stay?” That sounded like Heike’s voice. He must have come in at some point as well.

“Well, I was thinking she could maybe stay in Hachiouji’s apartment for now, since she’s going to be away for a while,” Kanda suggested.

“I don’t see why not,” Heike agreed, just as you unlocked the door of the bathroom and stepped out into the room.

“Is it true?” you asked, your voice wobbling. “Did… did you tell them that I… died?”

Kanda glanced at Heike, who nodded, before answering you sympathetically: “Yes, we’re very sorry. But (name), this is the best way. With your ability, you can’t go on living a normal life.”

You understood. This was obviously what they had been planning sooner or later. But it was all so sudden.

“Can’t I say… goodbye…? To my friends?” you asked, though you knew what the answer would be. Kanda shook her head sadly. Your face dropped. You felt too empty to even cry at this point.

You imagined Yui hearing that you had died in a freak house fire. Her face would contort into disbelief and pain. She would start crying, probably go home early… You could never see her again. The one person who had reached out to you, the lonely, quiet girl. You would never see her again.

“Yuuki, do you have any sweet tea?” Heike asked, interrupting the heavy silence. The red-haired boy nodded and walked over to the kitchen area. A minute or two later he returned to where you were kneeling at the table in the centre of the room and shoved the tea insistently under your nose.

You looked up and smiled slightly in gratitude. He looked slightly flustered at this and glanced away. There was an odd feeling in your chest. A kind of affection, different from anything you had felt before. It lessened slightly when Yuuki stood up again and backed away awkwardly. Confused, you put it down to fitful sleeping and sipped the tea.

******

Later that day there was a knock at the door. Kanda told you to stay out of sight and went to open the door.

“Ah! Master!” Her eyes flickered to where you were sitting around the corner. “Now’s not really the best time.”

Ogami pushed past her and stepped into the room, not bothering to take his shoes off. You bristled a he looked around, locking his eyes with yours and stepped towards you.

“You,” he spoke in a low voice. He did not sound sympathetic, nor did he sound aggressive, as he had before. He sounded more neutral this time. Not that you felt any better about this. “I have something I need to show you.”

You didn’t answer. Instead you bit your lip and looked at your feet.

“Master Ogami,” Kanda said warningly.

“It’s alright. I’m going to take her somewhere,” he answered coolly, looking eyes with her. Whatever he meant, Kanda seemed to catch on and her eyes widened. Then she spoke: “Alright, but if anything happens…”

“Nothing will happen.”

She sighed and walked over to you. “Listen,” she said gently. “I have some things I need to take care of. Why don’t you go with Ogami?”

When you opened your mouth to protest, she shushed you.

“I think it would be good for you to go,” she told you, putting a comforting hand on your shoulder. “I know this is a lot to take in, but you’ll at least be safe with Ogami.”

Reluctantly you nodded. Borrowing one of Yuuki’s long coats, you put on a pair of trainers which Kanda must have rescued from your house and stepped out of the door after Ogami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I don't really have that long at the moment! My exams are over, but I've been really busy. Here's the next chapter for the time being. :)
> 
> Thanks again for the support!


	10. The Visitor

You couldn’t tell if Ogami was trying to rub salt into the wound or if he was trying to make you feel better. He stood silently next to you as you stared down at the gravestone of Yasuo.

The trip had been a quiet one. Neither of you had breathed a word for the entire bus ride. You were grateful. You still didn’t trust yourself to say anything the Ogami after what had happened. Honestly you wondered if you could ever forgive such a thing.

You knelt down at the grave and read and re-read the inscription. In comparison the the other headstones, this one was new and freshly carved. It showed no signs of weathering, showing that it was recent.

Of course there had been nothing left to bury of the boy, but a headstone had been made in his honour none-the-less. You ran your finger over the words.

“I’ll be over there,” Ogami spoke behind you and you heard his feet crunching away along the gravel path. You watched him walk away and when he was at a safe distance you turned back to the headstone and began to speak.

You knew that he probably couldn’t hear you, wherever he was now, but it felt good just to talk. To get it off your chest. You told him everything, the talk you had had with Heike and Kanda, the following morning and the fire, the death – no, murder – of your attacker and awaking in a strange apartment, covered in blood. You also talked about the dream you had had, and your father. Finally, you placed your palms together and sat in silence for a minute or so, with closed eyes.

You were alerted by a drop of rain dripping onto your nose and looked up to find that dark clouds had covered the sky again. Pulling up your hood, you returned stiffly to your feet and reluctantly went to meet Ogami at the gates of the cemetery.

“Are you done?” he asked and you nodded. You were honestly surprised he was still waiting for you. Maybe somewhere deep down he felt he owed it to you.

Before walking back to the bus stop Ogami stopped at a café and ordered you both a coffee. You didn’t really question his kindness, if that’s what you could call it. No apologies were ever exchanged. You both knew that no apology could undo the damage.

The bus drive back was as silent as the first. Not a word was exchanged. You noticed that Ogami once again wore a glove on his hand.

When you arrived back at your stop, Ogami stayed on the bus, claiming that he had ‘other things to take care of’. You didn’t question this either and hopped off the bus. With you head down you made your way slowly back to the apartment block where Yuuki was staying.

Birds chirped and the scents of many evening meals being cooked lingered in the air. You wondered what you would eat. Maybe Kanda would bring something around. The air was thick and heavy. Though the rain had stopped temporarily, storm clouds still hung threateningly overhead, promising more rain to come.

When you reached the apartment block however, something else caught your eye. A dark car was parked at the front gates. It didn’t belong to any of the other tenants or it would be parked inside the gates.

As you passed it, you saw two men in sunglasses staring at you through the windows of the front door. It made you uneasy and you were relieved when you entered the building, out of sight.

You took the lift back up to the 7th floor and walked down the corridor to Yuuki’s apartment. The door creaked a little as you entered and you heard voices coming from inside. There was Kanda’s voice, along with one that you didn’t recognise. You could hear Yuuki humming in the background, though like usual he wasn’t really involved in the conversation itself.

The apartment smelt of coffee and biscuits, and seeing the extra pair of smart shoes at the door, you realised there must be a visitor. Nothing could have prepared you for the shock you received when you walked into the apartment and realised that the visitor did indeed look very familiar. 

Sandy hair and a sly, secretive face. You had seen it on television so many times. It was the prime minister.

******

“Ah (name)! Just the one I wanted to see. Do sit down,” the prime minister said cheerfully to your frozen form. You shook yourself inwardly, nodded and scurried to the other side of the table, where you sat beside Kanda.

You were still partly in shock. The prime minister wanted to see you. He wanted to see you. Just a week ago you wouldn’t even have imagined such a situation.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” you murmured, with a deep bow.

“And you (name).” He never returned the bow and something about the way he kept saying your name made your skin scrawl. You took an instant dislike towards the prime minister.

“May I enquire why you are here, sir?” Kanda asked. She didn’t sound unfriendly, but she did sound deeply weary. It was clear that she shared your doubts at that moment.

“Two things, actually,” the prime minister replied. “The first being that yesterday evening I was the victim of an attack in my main office.”

Kanda shot up straight. “Sir?” she exclaimed.

“No need to worry. Toki was there with me. But;” he added, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t want to risk such as situation again in future. Which leads me to my second reason.” His eyes turned to you.

“As I’m sure you have gathered (name), we are currently understaffed in the Code:Breakers department, which is why mistakes happen.” He turned his eyes towards Kanda, whose shoulders sagged slightly.

“Therefore I want to ask you, how would you feel about working for the government?”

Yuuki, who had been sitting quietly in the background up until sat upright. “That isn’t necessary,” he objected. “I don’t mind being stationed near the main office-“

“Yuuki, surely you haven’t forgotten your current mission?” the prime minister interrupted. “I know you’re meant to be keeping her safe, but right now the best way to do that is for her to become one of you.”

Yuuki didn’t look convinced for a heartbeat, but he knew better than to argue with the prime minister.

“Of course, (name),” he turned his attention back to you. “You do have a choice of course.” Something about the way he said this told you that this wasn’t strictly true. Sure enough, he continued: “However, until now Yui’s little brother has been receiving his medication free from the government. If you don’t want any… unfortunate complications to happen, it would be best for you to do as I say.”

He scrutinised you closely as he said this. You could tell he wasn’t bluffing either. You really didn’t have an option. It was a dirty trick. You felt some of that familiar fury surging up inside you. But there was nothing you could do. If you did, then Yui’s brother, little Shuu, might suffer for it. More than rage though, you felt an overwhelming, numbing emptiness. It seemed to be eating you up from the inside.

You weren’t sure what do you. If you were sad, you could cry. If you were angry, you could scream and shout. But when you feel empty, what are you supposed to do? You sat in silence, staring back at the man who had so quickly earned your mistrust.

“Can… can I think about it?” you asked. You knew you couldn’t refuse, but you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of agreeing immediately.

The heat of the tense moment was broken. The prime minister blinked and sat back.

“Of course,” he said with a smile. A smile that was obviously not a real smile.

With that he got up, stretched his legs and thanked Kanda for the coffee. He moved towards the door and slipped on his shoes. Your eyes never left him. Nor did Kanda’s or Yuuki’s. You wanted him out and you could tell the other felt the same.

There was a click as the door closed behind him and the three of you listened in silence as his feet clicked down the hallway.

When you were all sure that he was well and truly out of earshot, Yuuki slammed a fist suddenly into the wall behind him. You jumped, startled and glanced at him. You couldn’t see his eyes, but anger was rolling off him in waves.

“Yuuki-“ Kanda attempted.

“Now he’s going to get (name) involved,” he growled. Although his voice was quiet, you could feel the underlying storm. He was furious.

“Listen Yuuki, calm down,” Kanda replied anxiously. “I’m sure we can sort this out somehow, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. To your surprise, Yuuki relented and his shoulders drooped. A murky aura still surrounded him, however, and he looked extremely moody.

“Yuuki, I suggest to you go out and take a walk,” Kanda suggested. “Run off some steam. Maybe (name) could help me with the cooking back here?”

Your stomach growled when she mentioned food and you realised suddenly how hungry you were. Slightly embarrassed you pressed your arms to your stomach and nodded. You had quite a knack for cooking. The lack of parents had really left you no other option. Kanda looked relieved at this and as suggested, Yuuki left a few minutes later.

As you helped Kanda peel potatoes you asked: “Where’s Heike?”

“I think he said he had a meeting,” Kanda answered thoughtfully. “But with Heike, you never really know.”

You considered this. It was true you supposed. Like Yuuki, Heike was difficult to read and an enigma to you. Ogami was more of an open book, despite the cold front he put on.

While boiling vegetables and mixing toppings you chatted with Kanda about this and that. It was the most normal evening you had experienced in a while. It brought back memories of helping Yui and her mother cook in past days.

You didn’t even realise you were crying until Kanda commented on it and handed you a tissue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is as far as I've completed by this point, so I'm afraid I can't guarantee when I can get the next chapter up, but this is now officially the longest fanfic I have ever written. I just really hoping I can keep going. To be honest I'm panicking a little about keeping everything balanced out at the moment. But I do think I have the basic plot outlined, so hopefully I'll manage to get there eventually!
> 
> Thank you all very much for reading!


	11. Illusion

By the time Yuuki returned, having calmed down significantly, you had been at work with Kanda for over an hour. He stepped into the apartment and you watched his eyes widen at the sight of the coffee table covered in food of all sorts. A few days ago you may not have picked up on it, but to you it was clear he was happier.

“Looks like we’ve outdone ourselves,” Kanda chuckled, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. You nodded with a smile. Trying to take your mind off other matters, you had just cooked and cooked. You had a feeling that, like you, Yuuki had been living on cup noodles these last few days, as the fridge and cupboards were full of fresh and unopened ingredients.

It felt good to have real food in front of you again. It turned out that almost everyone was just as hungry as you were. You barely managed to give a collective ‘thanks for the meal’, before tearing ravenously into the evening meal.

With everything that had been happening lately, nobody must have been taking much time to eat or sleep properly. Still you were surprised by the amount of food Yuuki was managing to inhale.

“You must have been hungry,” you said with a gentle smile in his direction. That odd affection was coming over you again. What was that feeling? It was like an excited happiness, only stronger, and only when he was around.

“Not really,” Yuuki answered through a mouthful of food. “This is how much I normally eat.” You gaped at him. Kanda started to laugh.

“He isn’t kidding!”

You shook your head disbelievingly. Though to tell the truth, you also felt unusually hungry. The coffee you had had with Ogami had done little to fill your stomach, and as you ate you realised that you probably hadn’t properly eaten anything since yesterday evening.

Of the three of you, Kanda probably ate the least. You and Yuuki were packing the food away at a speed unimaginable. Over dinner you chatted and laughed about mundane topics. It was nice to experience a normal situation again, in which you could almost forget everything that was happening.

Towards the end of the evening, you said goodnight to Yuuki and followed Kanda back to her appartment. It was even plainer than Yuuki’s and purely functional. A futon had been laid out on the floor by the bed, where you presumed you would be sleeping.

As you bent over to slip off your shoes there was insistent mew and you raised your head a little to find Mika’s bright green eyes looking up at you expectantly.

“Mika! I wondered where you had run off to!” you exclaimed, scooping the cat up.

“Oh yes, I forgot to mention!” Kanda told you. “I moved her over to my flat earlier before our ‘guest’ arrived.”

You shuddered at the thought of the man who had visited you earlier. You had always disliked the prime ministers face, but meeting him in person had been unpleasant to say the least. Those narrowed eyes and that thin smile… You knew you were grimacing at the recollection.

“I almost forgot to give you this, by the way,” Kanda spoke again, handing you a familiar rucksack. “It’s some items we managed to save from your house.”

Eagerly, you reached out and took it out other hands, placing the cat gently on the floor. Pulling it open, you found several sets of clothes and a clean set of pyjamas as well as a comb and toothbrush and a few mangas that must have been lying out. Though you were glad to have these things, the thought that this little bundle of items was all that was left of your previous life was a shock to you.

“What do I do about money?” you asked guiltily. You knew you couldn’t rely on them forever. Honestly you were surprised you had been managing to keep yourself as calm as you were. This whole situation was a mess. Officially you were dead and could never return to your old life, no matter how much you wanted to.

You tried not to think about it. You wouldn’t cry. Not again.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Kanda replied, waving her hands reassuringly. “Officially you are a direct responsibility of the government now. Money shouldn’t be an issue. Until everything is sorted out properly though,” she added. “You’ll be in my care.”

You felt your eyes stinging.

_Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry!_

Instead you blinked slowly, scrunching up your face until you could see stars behind your eyelids. Then you gave a deep bow and said sincerely: “Thank you, Miss Kanda.”

Her eyes widened and then she relaxed and smiled.

“That’s okay, (Name).”

******

That night you tossed and turned on your futon. Your mind felt full, but your stomach felt empty again. You felt too warm, but when you pulled off the covers you became too cold. To top it off your neck felt stiff and you were unable to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

Kanda had long since fallen asleep and was quietly snoring in the background. Mika had made herself comfortable by curling up on the end of the futon and interrupted the ticking of the clock with the occasional yawn or sigh.

Yuuki kept slipping into your mind, despite your best efforts to think about other matters. You remembered how unfazed he had seemed at the sight of you covered in another person’s blood. Had he really been through so much already that it didn’t faze him? Instead of feeling shocked anymore, you felt sad. For someone of your age he had already seen too much of the world’s dark underside.

You also wondered if one day you might end up that way. With the threats from the prime minister swaying all of your decisions it didn’t look like you had much choice. In a way you were already one of them; your free will had been completely obliterated.

Eventually you sat up in bed, having temporarily given up on sleeping. Your eyelids were heavy and your limbs felt like lead, but whatever you tried you just couldn’t fall asleep. You pulled away the covers, careful not to disturb Kanda or the cat, who was still sleeping by your feet and snuck over to the door.

You didn’t want to make Kanda worry, so you made a mental note to return before she woke up. But right now you felt claustrophobic and hot in the cramped apartment and needed to get out. You slipped on a pair of shoes onto bare feet and pulled a hoodie over your head to keep warm, before quietly unlocking the door and stepping out into the hall.

The hall was cooler and woke you up a little from your drowsy state. Leaving the building at this time of night wasn’t an option, so instead you decided to head for the roof. You climbed stiffly up several flights of stars, passing rows upon rows of apartment doors on your way.

To your surprise, when you reached the top, the door was already ajar. Cautiously you put your hand against the cold metal of the door and pushed. The door swung outwards.

The cold hit you before you could even focus your eyes on the starry sky in front of you. The roof was flat and concrete and a thin iron railing was the only safety net. Beyond that the city stretched out on all sides, casting up an orange light. Above you the stars spread out across the night sky.

You shivered in the cool night air and took a few steps out onto the roof. Your breath clouded in front of your eyes and you drew your arms around yourself in the hopes of retaining some body heat.

You wondered briefly if you should just go back inside again, but just when you were about to turn around and walk back the way you had come a familiar voice cut through the cool air.

“(Name)?” The voice sounded as startled as you felt.

“Yuuki?” you called back with a jump.

“Yes.” There was a thump as someone jumped lightly onto the roof behind you. You jolted and spun around to face him. He tilted his head to one side.

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked.

“A little I guess,” you answered with a shrug. That strange feeling was bubbling up inside of you again. It made your chest feel tight.

“Do you want to borrow my jacket?”

“Wha… Won’t you be cold then though?”

He shook his head and wordlessly shrugged off the trench coat and handed it to you.

“I- Are you sure it’s okay?” He nodded impatiently. He wasn’t meeting you eyes, preferring to look out over the city instead.

You took the long jacket and pulled it on quickly, breathing a sigh of relief. It was still warm from when Yuuki had been wearing it. It smelled like him too. Inconspicuously you inhaled slowly, savouring his scent.

When you looked up again, he had gone. You blinked and looked around, finding him relocated by the railings by the edge of the roof. Quietly you trotted over and stood next to him, shoulder to shoulder, and looked out across the city.

You winced as you looked down over the railings and pulled away, taking a step or two back. You couldn’t remember the last time you had been so high up.

You weren’t really properly afraid of heights, but found it impossible to look down from a high place without imagining what would happen if you did somehow happened to fall over the railings. It always made your palms sweat, just imagining screaming and flailing through the air in your last few seconds before hitting the ground with a sickening crunch. Your broken body would give a final heave and the breath would leave you, leaving you nothing more than a mangled corpse.

You bit your lip at the thought. Yuuki however seemed unbothered, looking apathetically across the cityscape. You found yourself admiring his profile, the way his hair fell and the curve of his mouth…

You smacked your own cheeks lightly with your palms, confused. Yuuki looked around and met your eyes. You felt your face grow warm. 

‘What was this?’ you thought to yourself.

“(Name)…” the boy began unsurely.

“Y-yeah?”

“The other morning,” he continued. “When we were attacked. I thought you had died.” You weren’t surprised. He would have drawn the same conclusion as anyone else would have at the time. Seeing you collapsed on the floor, covered in blood would give anyone that same impression. What surprised you was the edge in his voice as he said this. You looked up.

“When I ran in, you were lying in a puddle of blood. My chest felt tight and I couldn’t believe it,” Yuuki explained. “You should be more careful.”

Your eyes widened. Was he worried about you?

“Y-yeah…” you exhaled shakily. “I guess I should.” Why were you feeling so self-conscious?

A thought occurred to you then. You almost squeaked at the realisation and your eyes dropped. Could it be? Were you falling in love with him? Was such a thing even possible? To fall in love with someone within the time span of less than a week?

Or was it just desperation and loneliness? But when you thought about it, you had been alone for a very long time, and yet this feeling was completely new.

“(Name)?” you heard Yuuki ask questioningly. You were unable to meet his eye. Was this love?

“Yuuki, I think… I think I-“

You were cut off by a loud rumble from inside the building and the roof shook under your feet. Yuuki jerked backwards, away from the drop and twisted around to look at you. He looked wide-awake, unlike a moment ago.

There was another blast of noise, followed by a crashing sound and this time you both lost your balance, falling onto the cold concrete.

“An earthquake?” you shouted over the noise.

“No, this sounds like an explosion!” Yuuki called back, pushing himself shakily back to his feet and reaching out a hand to you. You took it gratefully and he pulled you up. He hand was warm and firm and he didn’t let go, even once you had gotten back onto your feet.

The door the roof was thrown open, revealing Kanda, who, like you, was still in her pyjamas. She looked frantic.

“There you are!” she gasped. “I thought something had happened to you.”

Yuuki let go of your hand, reluctantly and you pulled it back, still feeling the warmth on your skin.

“Kanda! What’s happening?” he exclaimed over the noise as another blast rattled the very foundations of the apartment block.

“I don’t know! We’re being attacked!” Her voice betrayed her panic and she was firmly holding a handgun in her hands in front of her. You gawked at it.

“Where’s No. 6?” Yuuki questioned her, seemingly taking the initiative over the situation, which seemed unusual for him.

“He’s downstairs, holding them back!” Kanda called, her hands tightening around the gun. You heard Yuuki swear under his breath and you bit your lip, beginning to come to terms with what was happening.

Is this what your life would be like from now on? A constant chain of fear and fighting? You wondered if this is what Yuuki had to go through on a daily basis. If so, no wonder he was always so detached. He hadn’t seemed surprised, even when you had been attacked in your own bedroom. 

“I’m going downstairs. Are you ready?” he asked Kanda, who nodded tensely, her hands trembling ever so slightly on the gun. To you, she was the most human of you all.

“Wait!” you cried out, just before Yuuki disappeared back into the building, Kanda at his heels. He paused and looked around, eyeing you.

“I want to come as well,” you exclaimed quietly, coming to stand next to him. You might as well get used to this, right?

Yuuki looked tense, but then a look of determination crossed his features and he answered: “Okay. Stay close to me, (Name).”

You nodded and he turned back to the door and shot into the building. You and Kanda exchanged an anxious glance and rushed in after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! Another chapter! :'D I hope I'm not making Yuuki out of character... He is such a difficult character to write!
> 
> I'm actually also getting a little worried, because I feel I'm beginning to loose motivation... At the same time, I really would like to finish this. :S
> 
> Also, I'm still not sure if I'm doing a good job with the romance, but I'm very grateful for the encouragement!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Gunpoint

As the three of you sprinted down the stars and through corridors, terrified civilians shot past, making for the exit. You tried to ignore them and keep the rising panic at bay, yet your heart hammered horribly against your chest and your breath came in ragged gasps.

The source of the explosion became ever closer and the shuddering of the building seemed to rattle your bones and made your teeth chatter. In front of you Yuuki came to a sudden halt, putting his arms out on either side of him warningly.

You and Kanda stopped short, almost colliding with one another as Yuuki took a deep breath and gave a loud cry, which resonated around the walls. He moved his hands up to his face and cupped them around his ears, listening concentrated.

After a moment his hands dropped back to his sides and he spoke: “There are no bombs in the building. It’s others like us; it has to be.”

“Others with special abilities?” you asked, worriedly. Yuuki nodded and made a signal for you to follow him again, before making his way to the nearest flight of stairs and jumping the banisters to move faster towards his destination. You and Kanda followed more slowly, following the twists and turns of the staircase. 

By the time you had turned another corner, you found Yuuki standing shoulder to shoulder with Ogami, threateningly facing off a group of five newcomers in dark suits.

“Who do you work for?” Ogami was growling threateningly.

The one at the front snorted. “We don’t have to tell you anything, pretty-boy,” he sneered menacingly.

“Are you with Kamui’s group?” Kanda shouted at them, coming to stand next to you. You blinked and twisted your head towards her. She sent you a warning glance in return.

“Hoh-hoh. Looks like this ones pretty and smart boss,” another of the men snickered. He was silenced by a glare.

“As a matter of fact we are,” said the man at the front, whom you assumed was the leader. “And,” he added. “We’ve come for your girly over there.” He raised a finger and pointed towards you. For some reason this outraged you.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you that’s it’s rude to point?” you told them condescendingly, your eye twitching furiously. Kanda glanced at you in shock. The men in black suits merely laughed.

“This ones got spirit, I’ll give her that,” laughed the green-eyed man at the back. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing serpent-like tattoos snaking their way up his arms. You shuddered, unable to help imagining those large arms snapping someone’s neck like a twig.

Kanda lifted her gun and pointed it at them. “What’s she to you?” she snarled. You had never seen her look so cold or angry. The fact that she was acting this way for you would have touched you, were you not currently in the situation of facing five grown men with special abilities with only two teenage boys and a young woman armed only with an ordinary gun as your allies.

Damnit. Where was Heike when you needed him?

“None of your business lady,” the one at the front snarled at her. “Just hand her over and we’ll leave without a fight.”

Yuuki dropped into a fighting stance in front of you. “You wanna go?” he growled.

The man in the lead sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “All right boys,” he spoke. “Knock yourselves out. But don’t forget, we need the girl alive, or _she’ll_ have our heads.”

“With pleasure,” one of them called out in a rough voice and there was the thudding of running feet as the men came running at you. Your ears registered Kanda’s gun firing next to you and from then, everything was a blur.

“You bitch!” someone shouted, holding his bleeding ear, which had been grazed by the bullet and next to you Kanda was blown backwards by an invisible force and her back his the wall of the corridor. She collapsed like a ragdoll to the floor, the gun slipping from her hand. She grasped feebly for it, without avail. It was kicked sideways by one of the men, who was struggling with Ogami. The dark-haired boy was dodging attacks from two of the men at one, dodging and twisting, his hand alight with blue flames. Surprisingly, he was holding his own but if you hadn’t been in a state of numb disbelief you would have noticed that in these close quarters he could not release his full blasts of powers, in the fear of hurting you or Yuuki.

Yuuki was facing a similar problem. He was in close-quarter combat, which did not allow him to use his full potential. The attackers on the other hand were not holding back. Beams, blasts, chips of what looked like ice and balls of fire shot past you on all sides. You dropped to the ground in a feeble attempt to avoid being hit. In the end when it really came down to it, you were useless. You were outnumbered and overpowered. What could you do?

“(Name)!” someone yelled above the noise and confusion. You lifted your head slightly at Yuuki’s voice. “The gun! Get the gun!”

You understood. You seemed to overcome your temporary trance at his voice and began to crawl towards the gun. If the attackers got their hands on it then you were finished. Though with his power Ogami may be able to protect himself and Yuuki might have a chance as well, you and Kanda would not have a leg to stand on if the men got their hands on the weapon.

However you were about to reach out for it when one of the men who were struggling with Yuuki seemed to realise what you were doing. With a howl he broke away and flung himself at you. You barely had time to scuttle out of the way before a huge foot stomped down where your back had been a moment later.

Pushing yourself onto all fours, you glanced up at him. Why hadn’t he aimed for your head? Then you remembered and a terrifying grin spread across your face as you stood up and faced the man. He couldn’t kill you. For whatever reason, they needed you alive. This thought seemed to make you reckless.

The man seemed taken aback by your sudden change of mood. He was staring at you, bemused. With a crazed smirk, you felt the electric sensation of the blade reforming in your hand once again. It tingled warmly in your fingers and had a ragged spiked edge, with the sole purpose of doing maximum damage.

Your assailant seemed to switch to his survival instinct and pushed off, flying at you with fists. You merely shot your hand out in front of you and felt energy flooding through your fingers, creating a force field between you and him. He bounced limply against the force field and collapsed to the ground.

Before he could return to his feet, you stood over him and brought your foot down on his chest as hard as you could. He coughed blood and saliva, hacking painfully. With a sadistic grin, you brought your foot down again, with a similar reaction.

“Stop!” he choked.

“Fat chance,” you spat. You raised your knife above your head. The man began to beg, but you were deaf to his pleas. That familiar feeling of fury had come over you. How dare these people, break into a public apartment block, attack your friends and harm innocent surveillance? Sometimes you felt really sick of the world and the people in it. There was no empathy in this world and in turn, you decided not to show any in this moment either.

You brought the knife down in your moment of fury. It tore into the man’s chest and a deep howl ripped from his throat. You jerked the knife up again, allowing the blood to spray from the open wound, before you brought it down again.

Suddenly, inexplicably, laughter began to bubble up in your throat as you repeatedly brought the knife down into the man’s chest.

“Who do you think you are?” you howled over the noise. You hadn’t even noticed the shocked stares of the other occupants of the hall as you stabbed the knife down, over and over.

You were about to bring your arm down again, when a firm hand grasped your wrist. You gasped, dropping the blade, which dissolved midair, before it had time to clatter to the ground.

“(Name), stop. He’s finished,” someone mumbled into your ear. You twisted your head over your shoulder fiercely and came face to face with Yuuki. He looked unhappy at you and when you turned back to the mess you had created in front of you, you understood why.

With a scream, you stumbled back, falling into Yuuki’s chest. His arms wrapped around you from behind, supporting you. The man’s chest looked less like a human torso, and more like a bloody mess. Your hands were red and sticky.

Even the men in the dark suits had regrouped a few metres away and were looking on at the bloody mess. Even they seemed shocked.

You were horrified at yourself. This wasn’t the first time you had caused a scene like this. Was this a part of you?

A single word broke the silence. “Kamui,” one of the men stated, his voice laced with disbelief and awe.

Kanda, who meanwhile had straightened herself up against the wall, jolted and her eyes widened in sudden clarity.

“What did you say?” she asked sharply.

The men exchanged glances and the leader opened his mouth. But before he could say anything, an insistent chopping sound filled the air. Yuuki glanced upwards.

“A helicopter?” he exclaimed. 

The leader of your attackers gritted his teeth and then shouted: “Quick men, to the roof!”

“Don’t let them get away,” Ogami called out, running after them and disappearing around the bend. Kanda limped after him, scooping up the handgun as she went.

Meanwhile Yuuki sat you down gently against one of the walls. “Are you okay?” he asked you, not bothering to conceal the anxiety in his tone as he kneeled down in front of you.

You nodded. Technically you were not injured. You felt a little unwell though and wondered if you might puke. How could you have done such a thing? You made sure to keep your eyes averted from the bloodied body and wiped your bloody hands on you pyjama bottoms.

“Listen, I’m going after Ogami,” Yuuki told you firmly. “You should stay here and rest.”

You blinked in response. Yuuki took this as a sign of agreement and stood up. He was about to run off towards the staircase when a hand caught his wrist.

“(Name)?”

“I’m… I’m coming with you…” you mumbled, pulling yourself shakily to your feet.

Yuuki shook his head. “You need to stay here.”

“I’m coming,” you insisted, determined. You were to far in by now to call quits. If you died here, you weren’t sure you would mind any more. But as soon as this thought crossed your mind, you were sure that wasn’t your reason. You wouldn’t die yet, not here.

You remembered the misery and hurt you had felt when loosing your father. You didn’t want to cause that kind of hurt to anyone else. You had already caused Yui to suffer and as you imagined the faces of those who had become your companions in the last few days, you knew you weren’t ready to die or give up without a fight.

You stared Yuuki straight in the eye, willing him to understand why you had to come. He stared back at you for a moment, then shook his head in defeat and signalled you to follow him.

With a determined expression, you drew together all the courage you could find and raced after him.

The pair of you sprinted down the hallway and took the stairs two or three at a time. Adrenaline had taken over by this point and though your subconscious knew you would probably be exhausted later, you felt energized.

You were blasted with cold air and met with loud chopping sounds as Yuuki slammed open the door to the roof once more. It was chaos outside. Bullets flew back and forth, spurts of fire shot in all directions and the helicopter blocked out every other sound with the loud blades cutting through the air.

A ladder was being rolled down from the helicopter and the men waited underneath, willing it to reach them faster, while fighting off Ogami’s attacks and Kanda’s bullets. Yuuki was already speeding towards the men and launched himself at them at a speed unimaginable, before his victim even had time to react. The man he had collided with promptly flew backwards and was sent sprawling against the railings on the edge of the roof.

Meanwhile the rope ladder had almost reached the ground and already the leader of the group had begun to grab the lower hold and was attempting to climb up the flimsy ladder.

“Kanda!” Ogami shouted. She nodded, re-adjusted her aim and sent a bullet flying in the man’s direction. He howled as the bulled grazed his fingers on one hand and was left hanging by his left hand. Ogami yanked the ladder firmly and the man’s fingers began to slip.

“Why, you little…!” His fingers gave way under his weight and he fell back down towards the ground, where Ogami was waiting, hand at the ready. At the last moment however, the leader stretched out his hand and grabbed the ladder once more, swinging from his good hand.

Beyond them, Yuuki was in combat with the pair of uninjured men. He dodged and threw fists and blasts towards them, but he seemed to be loosing stamina, you noticed. It had only been a few days ago that he had been lost after all.

You noticed then that the man Yuuki had sent flying a moment ago had begun to twitch and sit up. Instantly you began running towards them, but before you were able to reach them, a hand shot out and wrapped itself around Yuuki’s ankle. Unbalanced, he stumbled backwards, his attention temporarily diverted from the other men. He tried to kick the man’s hand away, but in his moment of vulnerability, the larger man with the snake tattoo pulled something black and shiny from under his jacket and pointed it at Yuuki. 

Then several things happened at once. Two bodies collided; throwing them both over the railings of the roof, a gun cracked and a panicked yell could be heard over the noise.

You flailed and struggled as you went over the railing, along with the man with the tattoo. With a terrified scream, you held on to the first thing you could grasp, a bit of broken railing. Unfortunately it was rusted and bent under your weight. The brittle part of railing snapped easily with a loud clang and you were falling again.

The last thing you saw was Yuuki, who was desperately trying to escape the arms of the other man and run towards you with a panicked expression present on his features.

“(Name)!” several voices called at once.

“Shit!” yelled the deep voice of the leader, who was still desperately attempting to cling to the jerking ladder.

As the roof began to grow smaller by the millisecond in front of your eyes, your grip on the metal bar subconsciously tightened. You couldn’t have screamed, even if you had tried. Instead you closed your eyes, not wanting to see the hard, unforgiving concrete speedily grow closer underneath you.

Then the bar of metal was suddenly yanked upward, midair. You clung to it tightly with both hands, feeling some unknown force slowing your fall. Curious, you opened our right eye very slightly and looked upwards. When you did, you gasped in amazement and your eyes snapped open.

You were suspended in midair, your fingers clamped tightly around the iron bar. You were vaguely aware of your arms aching painfully and your fingers quickly growing numb, and yet you felt just slightly relieved that you had temporarily stopped falling.

The feeling of security, however, vanished as soon as you glanced downwards. You screamed as you took in the scene bellow you. The ground was still 50 or so metres away and below you, you could just about make out the broken and bloody corpse of the man who had fallen before you. The blood had already started to pool around him. If you had been any closer, you would have seen the dull, lifeless eyes staring blankly back up at you.

Just as the scream began to die down in your throat, the iron bar you were hanging painfully from jerked again, this time upwards, back towards the roof. You closed your eyes as the movement began to speed up and your stomach felt as though it were dropping. Your heart pounded painfully in your chest and wind rushed past your ears.

Then the bar came to a sudden halt and moved sideways, the dropped again. You tried to open your mouth to scream, but before you could, you fell about a metre through the air and landed on cold concrete. You collapsed as your feet hit the ground and rolled to a painful stop, grazing your elbows and scraping a knee. 

For a few seconds you were afraid to open your eyes, sprawled out vulnerably on your side, your neck exposed to whoever was nearby.

When after a few moments nothing happened, you dared to open your eyes. You were back on the roof. The first thing you saw was a pair of slippers on bare feet in front of your face. When you looked upwards, you were met by a pair of curious eyes staring down at you. Blonde hair fell around the newcomers face as he stretched down a hand to you.

But the most odd thing about him was his eyes however. A pair of mismatched blue and brown eyes stared sharply down at you, as if to say: ‘Well?’ Expectantly he waved his hand in front of your face.

“Who… who are you?” you asked numbly, blurting out the first question that came to mind.

“Is that anyway to greet the person who just saved you?” he snorted. “Name’s Toki. More importantly, who are _you_?”

“I-I-I’m (N-name),” you replied, your teeth chattering unstoppably. You shakily took his hand and he pulled you to your feet.

“What’s going on?”

You looked around at the commotion. Bullets still fired, the helicopter still hovered ahead and Ogami was in the centre of the struggle. Yuuki was attempting to break away again, running towards you.

To your horror, you realised more men had begun to drop from the helicopter. You didn’t know who they were or why they were attacking you, but what you did know is that they wanted to have you and that they had attempted to kill Yuuki.

“I don’t know,” you gasped. “But-“

“Shit! Look out!” Toki interrupted you, shooting out his hand out to grab your wrist and pull you towards him and out of the way, but was already too late. Something hard and heavy collided with the back of your head, sending you sprawling forwards, knocking your head again on the cold slabs.

You felt sick and dizzy and stars floated behind your eyelids. Everything after that seemed like a blur.

…picked up by someone…

…a struggle…

…shouting…

…pulled upwards…

…loaded into the helicopter…

…and then, complete darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally managed to get this chapter finished! I'm really sorry it's so rushed... I didn't feel like this chapter was that realistically written either tbh, but maybe I'm just being to hard on myself. :'D
> 
> Thanks to all of you who have stuck with me this long! I was honestly taken aback and pleasantly surprised at all the encouragement. Without it, I'm not sure I could have made it this far, so thanks again! I'm doing my best. :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> (Also, let me just say again how difficult it is to get Yuuki's character right. :'D)
> 
> PS: Who's looking forwards to the next episode of Tokyo Ghoul tomorrow? X3


	13. A Familiar Face

With a deep sigh of either weariness or irritation, Heike poured himself his fifth cup of caffeinated tea. The others in the room didn’t look much better. Since the attack last night, nobody had slept much. Even Mika was snoring restlessly on Kanda’s lap.

Toki seemed to be the least exhausted and yet even he was on his third cup of coffee.

The TV buzzed in the background: “Last night, several citizens reported a strong earthquake. Though there has been little to no evidence of this on the Richter scale, the ruined state of their apartments cannot be denied…”

Kanda snatched up the remote and flicked off the channel. Silence settled itself over the room. The whole place smelled of coffee and had been reduced to chaos after last night, with objects scattered across the room at random.

“Sorry,” Toki muttered eventually. “If I’d been quicker on my feet, then maybe…”

Kanda shook her head. “There was nothing you could do,” she objected. “There were too many of them.”

Nobody had come away without injuries, other than Heike, who had turned up several minutes after the fight had ended. Everybody else was bruised and scratched. Yuuki had a raw looking scratch on his cheek where the bullet had grazed him. Of course, it could have been much worse, had you not thrown yourself at his attacker.

“Enough,” Yuuki broke in. “We need to rescue (Name)!”

“I hate to be the one who brings this up,” Toki muttered quietly. “But how do we know she’s even still alive?” Yuuki tensed, his head dropping and looked at his feet.

“Surely not…” Kanda began uncertainly. “They said they needed her alive didn’t they…?”

“That doesn’t mean she’s still alive now,” Toki said carefully.

To everyone’s surprise it was Ogami who spoke up next: “She’s alive. I’m certain.”

“How can you be so sure?” Toki shot back at him, irritably.

“I’ve met people like her before,” Ogami growled in return. “She won’t die.”

Silence fell over the room once more. The clock could be heard ticking noisily in the background. Nobody knew quite how to respond.

“Well,” Heike said finally, setting his cup down and breaking the silence. “First things first, we need to pinpoint her location.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Toki asked incredulously.

“Well,” Heike began, his eyes glittering. “(Name) was wearing Yuuki’s jacket when she was taking, or am I mistaken?”

“No… Now that you mention it, she was,” Kanda replied curiously. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

Heike smiled knowingly. “Yuuki’s coat had a tracker on it.”

There was a moment of complete silence as everyone in the room processed this amazing piece of information. It seemed too good to be true. “Heike! You’re amazing!” Kanda exclaimed excitedly.

“Why did nobody tell me?” Yuuki complained.

“Firstly, because I was the only one who knew about it,” Heike replied. “And secondly, what point is a tracking device if you knew it was there?”

Yuuki muttered something under his breath and then looked up again. “So?” he asked. “Can you find her?”

“Yes, I’ll get on it right away,” Heike reassured him. “But even if we do find her, there’s a possibility that… she won’t want to come back.”

Yuuki glared at him. “Why do you say that?” 

Kanda on the other hand was watching Heike carefully. She seemed to have caught on to whatever he was trying to tell them and was uncertain of whether or not she should speak up.

“Go on Miss Kanda,” Heike prompted her. “Tell them what you’re thinking.”

“Is it… is it… her?”

“It might well be.”

“Oh no… That means…” Kanda put a hand to her mouth. Heike nodded.

“What?” Ogami growled, sounding impatient and irritable. He hair was ruffled and he looked tired.

“Well, if what we’re thinking is right… Then the one at the head of the organisation is someone (name) knows very well…”

******

The first thing you felt when you awoke was the cold hard ground pressed against your cheek. Your head throbbed painfully and you were freezing. Your cheek felt raw from having been lying on it for such a long time. You attempted to move your hands to push yourself off the floor and clutch your head, but were unable to move.

Your eyes snapped open and you wriggled without avail. Your hands and feet were bound by thick rope. You faced a blank stonewall. Light streamed into what seemed to be a cell from behind you. Rolling over, you realised that instead of a forth wall there were bars on one side of the cell.

Droplets of water dripped from the ceiling and one landed coldly onto your check, sending an ice-cold ripple down your spine. You felt the metallic taste of your own blood in your mouth and feeling your cheek sting inside your mouth, decided that you must have been nervously chewing your cheek in your sleep.

“Miss! She’s awake!” a rough voice spoke from outside the cell.

“Excellent,” someone replied smoothly and there was the rustling of clothes as someone rose from a squeaky chair. This was followed by the clicking of high heels against the concrete floor.

You struggled stiffly into a sitting position in your cell as two faced appeared on the other side of the bars.

The first was a rough looking giant with a bristling chin and a grubby white t-shirt. His eyes were cold and cruel and seemed to be analyzing you with icy contempt.

The second face made you freeze completely and sent shock rippling through you. It was a beautiful woman in her late 20s or early 30s with glossy black hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to stare straight into your soul. She wore an elegant black dress and high-heeled boots which complemented her striking looks perfectly. A scent hit your nose, of roses and spice. It was a scent you hadn’t smelt in yours, but some deep part of your brain recognised it anyway.

Hers was a face you had seen every so many times. Every time you had looked into your locket.

“M… mum…” you croaked. Your throat felt raw and dry and the words rasped painfully from you.

The woman clapped her palms together excitedly. “You remembered me!” she grinned happily.

“Mum!” Emotions seemed to flood over you, incomprehensible and confused. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

“Hush,” she murmured, placing a delicate finger to her lips. “All in good time, dear. First, I want to speak with Kamui.”

You froze. “Y-you want to speak with d-dad?” Did your mother not know that he was dead? How could she not know? Yet the woman nodded eagerly.

“But… Dad’s… dad’s…” Your eyes stung.

“Yes, dead, we know,” the man spoke up for the first time. “We need to call him up for us.”

“Wha…” You didn’t understand. What were they talking about? If they knew Kamui was dead, why did they want you to speak with him?

“Yes, go on (Name), dear,” your mother repeated in anticipation.

“I don’t understand…” you protested. You were starting to feel woosy again. It was as though you were incapable of processing what was happening in front of your eyes. Your captors seemed far away, as if you were seeing them through a long tunnel. Their voices echoed painfully in your throbbing head.

“What are you talking about dear? Kamui is part of you, isn’t he? You see, I’m sure you’ve already been told about that block Kamui put on you at least?”

You nodded unhappily. You always wondered if your mother was still out there somewhere. But you most certainly hadn’t expected to meet her like this.

“Excellent! Well by doing so, Kamui left a fragment of himself in you. If you call him up, we can speak to that fragment of him through you! Do you understand?” She was talking animatedly.

“Why?” you cried out. “How?”

“(Name), please understand. Kamui merely wanted the most ordinary life possible for you. He worked so hard; even left our little group to join a special government department and became a Code:Breaker. Unfortunately that is all going to go to waste now, because you are going to serve as his mouthpiece. By placing a part of himself in you, he unwittingly fell right into our trap,” For the first time her cool façade broke away and you could see a desperate grin spreading across her face. Her eyes had a maniacal glint in them as she watched you.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you gasped, fighting back confused tears of hurt and confusion.

“Call Kamui, girl,” the giant hissed warningly.

“No!” you screamed at him.

“No?” he repeated disbelievingly. “I’m not sure you quite understand the position you’re in girl-“

“I understand perfectly!” you shouted. “You want to hurt dad! Well I won’t let you!”

With a single thought you slit the bonds on your hands and feet, leapt to your feet and sprinted towards the bars. Your mother flinched and danced backwards out of your reach. You howled and reached through the bars, trying to hit or scratch one of your tormentors.

“Hah!” the man yelled. “You’re just like him!”

Furiously, you shot shards of pure telekinetic power towards him, but they hit an invisible wall.

“She takes after me,” you mother squealed happily. “Did you see that? She has my power!”

“Ma’am, now’s not really the time,” the man told her warningly.

“You’re right,” she answered having sobered up again. “Young lady,” she added, turning to you. “You’ve been a bad girl. You could have hurt me.”

You glared at her through the bars. She continued: “Until you’ve thought about what you’ve done and called Kamui, you won’t be leaving your ‘room’.”

The man beside her snorted in amusement and the pair of them turned on their heels and walked away down the hall, which was lit only by flickering candle-light. Their voices echoed against the walls as they went.

“Do you think I was a good, responsible parent?” That had been your mother.

“Sure miss,” the man replied. “Couldn’t have done better myself. You really put her in her place.”

“Ooh! You really think so?”

The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. Anger coursed through you and you let out an angry howl, vicious enough for you to feel bile in your throat. Furiously you slammed your fist into the wall, to wound up to even feel the pain as the soft skin on your fingers made contact with the rough stone wall.

Then you allowed yourself to go limp and half-fell into a sitting position on the ground. You chewed the inside of your cheek relentlessly, knowing you would regret it later.

“You’d better get used to it kid,” a cool voice cut through the dark. You head snapped up attentively. “You’re gonna be here for a while.”

“W-who’s there?” you cried out.

“I’m right next to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ughhh... There's so much going on right now... :'D
> 
> Anyway I'm pleased to have the next chapter up! I'm amazed I'm still going, because this is the longest I've managed to keep up with anything. :') The encouragement really helps! Thanks again! ^^
> 
> Also I've been reading a book called "Something Wicked This Way Comes" which is proving to be pretty interesting! Does anyone know it? :D

**Author's Note:**

> What did you guys think? Should I continue?
> 
> Btw, I had to add some original characters, like Yui, Megumi, Yasuo, Hinata-sensei etc, because this is a different school from the one Sakura goes to, but I hope it's okay anyway and that I haven't made Yuuki too OOC.


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